Shark fin soup

Shark fin soup has been a Chinese delicacy since the Ming Dynasty. Back then, only the Emperor and his guests ate it. Until about twenty years ago, shark fin soup was served mostly in Hong Kong and other cities with Chinese populations, but only rarely in China, itself. This relatively low consumption of shark fin soup did not result in a significant problem for shark survival.
But now many of the 1.3 billion people of China are enjoying more prosperity. Shark fin soup has become popular, even obligatory, at banquets, business dinners, and weddings. That adds up to a lot of shark fin soup, and a lot of sharks are being killed for this soup.

The fins from between 26 million and 73 million sharks move through the Hong Kong shark fin markets alone, each year.

These sharks are generally not caught for their meat, but for their valuable fins. The most prized shark fins can cost hundreds of dollars, with the average being about US$450 (HK$3500) per pound. Shark meat, in contrast, is worth less than most fish.
In large parts of the oceans, populations of sharks are already down by 90% or more in just the last 20 years. This problem is made worse because sharks reproduce very slowly, taking years to reach sexual maturity and then reproducing few young. Many species will not be able to out-reproduce the demands of the shark fin trade.
Between 1996-2000, shark fin imports grew 6% per year (Clarke 2004a). This estimate is over a decade old and the current growth rate of the trade is unclear, adding to the uncertainty of the impact on shark populations.

Sharks have survived for 450 million years and yet we are on course for killing them off within a few years.

Then, there will be no more shark fin soup, other seafood species will disappear, and the oceans will no longer support the healthy balance of sea life that we need to survive.
We can do our part by not eating shark fin soup and encouraging our family and friends not to eat it. The taste of shark fin soup is not shark. It is usually chicken broth. Shark fin does not contain the traditionally believed high levels of nutrition content. Its value is traditional, but not essential. If we still want to have shark fin soup, artificial shark fin is worth considering, as it is less expensive and many people have trouble telling the difference from the real thing.
Balance and moderation are valued tenets of traditional Chinese way of life. We can all take pride and honor in recreating a balance to our ecosystem by choosing not to eat shark fin soup
https://www.sharksavers.org/en/education/sharks-are-in-trouble/shark-fin-soup1/