No, shark fin soup is not illegal in Australia. The sale and consumption of shark fins are legal, provided the fins were sourced from legally harvested sharks.
It may be illegal to cut the fins off a live shark, but it is completely legal to catch most sharks in Australia and sell their meat – often called 'flake'. Fishers can then sell their shark fins separately.
In Australia, shark flesh is sold at restaurants and markets but is predominantly consumed from fish and chip shops. The Australian Fish Names Standard (AFNS) aims to provide a legal name for all fish species nationally traded.
The Shark Finning Prohibition Act was signed into law by Bill Clinton on December 21, 2000.
In Australia, shark meat fillets are often sold under the umbrella term 'flake' in takeaways.
In fact, shark fins & meat contain high concentrations of BMAA (beta-Methylamino-l-alanine), a neurotoxin which causes degenerative brain diseases and methylmercury, high levels of which can cause neurological damage.
Shark meat is popular in Asia, where it is often consumed dried, smoked, or salted. The largest consumer of shark meat in the World is Brazil, but it is also consumed regularly in Iceland, Japan, Australia, parts of India, parts of Canada, the United States, Sri Lanka, areas of Africa, Mexico and Yemen.
Gummy Shark (also called Flake) is one of Australia's premium eating sharks. If buying Flake ensure you ask if it is Gummy Shark, as this is the only Australian shark allowed to be called this. As a smaller shark it has a sweet and delicious flesh, and are popular for their boneless and thick flakes.
First recorded in 1840 by the collector John Gilbert, from whom it takes its scientific name, Gilbert's Potoroo was once thought to be extinct. Today, it holds the critical distinction of being the world's rarest marsupial and Australia's rarest mammal.
The Most Popular Seafood Species to Eat in Australia
With the enactment of the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act in December 2022, the purchase and sale of shark fins became illegal throughout the United States. To encourage a restaurant in your area to stop serving shark fin soup: Talk/write to the owner and express your concerns regarding shark finning.
In conclusion, while shark meat, including that of bronze whaler sharks, is a significant protein source, it might carry potential health risks, particularly from Mercury and Arsenic and may cause cardiovascular diseases, neurological damage, cognitive deficits, and in severe cases, increased cancer risk.
Australia is now the fourth country in the world to approve cell cultured meat. The gazetted changes did more than approve this innovative food: the Code was also amended to lay out a clearer path for cell-cultured foods created from growing animal and plant cells in a controlled environment moving forward.
Overall, they found 38 different fish species used in the imitation crab studied, though the surimi packages included labeling for a total of only 27 species, with an average of 6 species per product. “Nearly all imitation crab samples contained undeclared species, including squids or … sharks,” said Willette.
Another reason sharks are also considered halal is that they do not fit neatly into the category of kitabiyyat. Kitabiyyat are animals with fangs and claws. They are considered non-halal according to the laws of Islam. Sharks do not possess both fangs and claws simultaneously, So they are not categorized as kitabiyyat.
Taste. The taste of the soup comes from the broth, as the fins themselves have little perceptible flavor. Rather than for taste, the fins are used for their "snappy, gelatinous" texture, which has been described as "chewy, sinewy, stringy".
"Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi" is a cheer or chant often performed at Australian sport events. It is a variation of the "Oggy Oggy Oggy, oi oi oi" chant used by both football and rugby union fans in Great Britain from the 1960s onwards. It is usually performed by a crowd uniting to support a sports team or athlete.