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Clear waters for sharks

(article, Culinate staff)

Two years ago, the West Coast joined Hawaii in banning the shark-fin trade. Now comes word, from Bonnie Tsui in the New York Times, that China — where shark-fin soup is a traditional banquet delicacy, and where most of the planet's harvested shark fins wind up — may be abandoning its love of shark.

As Tsui reported, the younger generation in China, apprised of the environmental and animal-rights hazards of killing sharks for their fins, is shunning shark-fin soup for wedding banquets and other special occasions. Corporations and hotels are starting to drop the item from their menus as well. What's taking its place as a high-status edible? French wine.