174 Man and Shark 



in poor fishing for both commercial and sports fishermen around Hawaii. 

 It probably could increase the danger of attacks on Hawaiian bathers. 

 And all this may be due to Hawaiians not putting shark meat in their fish 

 cakes! 



In Latin America, the eating of sharks is a custom that varies from 

 nation to nation, and often from village to village. In Peru, for instance, 

 sharks are eaten by people of all classes, as is the Guitarra, or Guitarfish, 

 (Rhinobatos). But the skate— considered an epicurean dish in some coun- 

 tries—is looked upon as a dish fit only for the very poor. In Mexico, 

 shark is one of the principal food fishes, and the annual catch is measured 

 in millions of pounds. In Venezuela, both Sawfish (Pristis pectinatus) 

 and shark are eaten. The sharks of several unspecified species are called 

 simply cazon. A 1948 U.S. survey of the Brazilian fishing industry 

 showed that 16 selachian genera, from Alopias (Thresher sharks) and 

 Ginglymostoma (Nurse sharks) to Sphyrna (Hammerhead sharks) and 

 Trygoji (Sting rays) were included among commercial fishes. 



No statistics are available on shark consumption in Communist China, 

 but it is known that the importing of shark fins has been forbidden. 

 Shark fin soup, an epicurean dish of Old China, is looked upon by the 

 Peiping Communist regime as decadent and bourgeois— a luxury that 

 has no place in a People's Republic. 



In Old China, shark fin soup was part of the delicate filigree of 

 protocol and manners that entwined an ancient culture. The ingredients 

 of shark fin soup included, most of all, time and contemplative labor. 

 Only a fine chef would dare attempt to make shark fin soup, and only 

 the finest chef would risk his reputation on the almost sacred task of 

 creating the supreme repast. The Shark Fin Dish. 



Chinese hosts in Old China were often judged by their chef's ability 

 to make shark fin soup and The Shark Fin Dish. And the host needed a 

 finely tuned sense of tact as well as a sensitive palate. To provide a 

 banquet with shark fin soup for an honored guest and to fail to serve 

 shark fin soup to a guest of equal social rank— this was the grossest 

 gaucherie. The serving of shark fin soup could be used to show favor, 

 and the withholding of it could show contempt. The Shark Fin Dish 

 was reserved for the especial guest, a man who would have few or no 

 social rivals. 



Twenty or more dishes— thousand-year t^g, bear's claw, frog, turtle, 

 snail— might have been served at a banquet. The cost of them all hardly 

 equaled the cost of The Shark Fin Dish. 



People in Korea, China, and Japan have been eating shark since 

 earliest recorded times. In 1956, according to a United Nations survey. 

 South Korea landed nearly 15,000 tons of sharks and rays. About the 

 same amount was landed by Taiwan's fishermen. In Hsinchu, on the 



