Celebrating Asian American Pacific Islander Month
May 28, 2026
by Hailin Gugelmann
I’ve loved sharks ever since I was little, staring through the glass as the leopard sharks swam by in the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s kelp forest. Since then, my love for them has grown into a passion for all things ocean-related: I’ve become a competitive club and high school swimmer, I’m scuba certified, and I’ve started surfing, among other things. However, it’s impossible to love the ocean without acknowledging the biggest problems sharks face.
One of the greatest threats to sharks today is the ongoing issue of shark finning. Finning is the process of catching a shark, cutting off its fins, and then dumping the live body back into the ocean. For the fishers, it’s efficiency: in the cargo hold, fins take up a fraction of the space that full sharks would, allowing a much larger yield on each trip. Fins are also much easier to transport and, most importantly, conceal. Dried shark fins are virtually odorless and require no refrigeration, making it easy to slip them past authorities. High-value fins, like those of the critically endangered scalloped hammerhead, can fetch a price of up to five hundred dollars a pound, and they are often grouped with the fins of unregulated species to avoid detection. This is the real problem with the shark fin trade: it’s nearly impossible to tell how many sharks are affected or regulate the trade. For this reason, the United States has banned the finning of sharks since 2000, and more recently in 2022, the sale and distribution of shark fins. Still, finning continues on the high seas and trade goes on, especially in Asian markets like Hong Kong and Singapore, where shark fin soup is a luxury delicacy.
The author Hailin Gugelmann collecting data as part of a research project with Shark Stewards.
As a Chinese American (even though I’ve personally never had the soup), this problem hits close to home. The reason the shark fin trade is so lucrative in places like China is because of the massive demand, which is interesting because the shark fin itself has no flavor and serves only to thicken the soup. The real flavor comes from the broth, and the shark fin can easily be substituted for sustainable options like scallops or even mushrooms, which have the same gelatinous texture. This is why consumer education is so important. Many consumers of shark fin soup don’t realize the importance of sharks in our oceans or the ecological impacts of the shark fin trade. When sharks, the ocean’s apex predators, are removed, the lower levels of the food chain go unchecked and overpopulate, upsetting the delicate balance of marine ecology. Another important factor to consider is that throughout a shark’s long lifespan, it bio-accumulates dangerous heavy metals like mercury in its tissues (one of the downsides of being a top predator) which are then passed on to humans.
Simple education efforts like these are enough to turn people away from shark fin soup, and they may be working. Consumption in mainland China has reportedly decreased since 2011 according to one non profit group, helped along by a ban on the Chinese government serving Shark Fin Soup at government functions in 2013. As the major import/exporter of shark fins, the UN Food and Agricultural Association records indicate there has been a decline in imports into Hong Kong. However, unreported imports, altered labeling and the increase in import/exports elsewhere such as Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore rndicate shark fin consumption and the trade is still a serious problem. Through this consumer education, particularly in China, I hope that we can see shark fin soup off of the menus in the future, ensuring healthier oceans for us all.
Hailin Gugelmann is a high school science student in Berkeley California and a NOAA Ambassador Receipient and Shark Stewards Intern