This weekend Shark Truth launched a contest to reward Chinese couples who pledge to Stop the Soup at their wedding banquet. Shark Truth’s mission is to "Stop the Soup. One bowl at time." and they are specifically targeting couples-to-be. "We want to address the issue at the roots – with the decision makers: couples-to-be", said Claudia Li, Founder of Shark Truth.
Shark fin soup is a delicacy served at traditional Chinese banquets and is a symbol of status and respect. It is especially popular at wedding banquets as part of the set menu dinner. The shark finning industry is pushing some shark species to extinction. Over to 38 million sharks are finned each year for shark fin soup, an equivalent to over one shark finned per Canadian annually. Scientific estimations quote this number as conservation since much of the shark finning industry is under-reporter and involves illegal activity.
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The ‘Happy Hearts Love Sharks‘ wedding contest began on March 28, 2010 to reward wedding couples in Vancouver who pledge to Stop the Soup at their traditional Chinese wedding banquet. Couples can enter the contest by submitting a photo or video of their pledge Stop the Soup and offer their shark fin soup alternative idea. The winning couple will be chosen based on the number of votes they get from friends and family on the Shark Truth website. The grand prize is a trip to Mexico to swim with whale sharks – the biggest fish in the world.
“A lot of modern couples have already chosen to not serve shark fin soup at their wedding banquet. The difficulty is in convincing their parents. This is why we are building a help centre on our website for couples with resources such as a ‘Letter to Your Parents’ template”, added Claudia.