Very hot Facebook group: 'Cut gift money for shark fin banquets'

Banquets are a seminal part of any formal occasion worth celebrating in China, and a seminal part of any banquet is shark fin soup. Usually served in a rich broth, this clear, tasteless, chewy noodle-like food is expensive and purportedly health-beneficial, and shows that the host is serving his guests only the best.

But shark fins are harvested with severe consequences on the shark population and the environment. One Facebook campaign is trying to stop the practice of serving shark fin at banquets by urging guests to cut back on their gift money unless the item is taken off the menu. Money is traditionally given to banquet hosts in Hong Kong as a thank you from the guests.

Clement Lee Yui-wah started the group "Cut gift money for shark fin banquets" last month. He said to The Standard: "We need to develop a new culture under which eating shark's fin is considered shameful. We must push home the message that eating shark fin is the same as committing a crime."

Lee hopes that guests at a banquet that serves shark fins will cut their gift of cash by 30 percent. In about a month the Facebook group has gained 6,700 members, some of whom are newlyweds who supported the cause through their own wedding banquets.

It all reminds us of this Yao Ming shark fin video from the end of 2009 where the superstar Chinese basketball player urges diners to remember that "when the buying stops, the killing can too."