Shark fin soup: A ridiculous, useless new ban in NJ (Opinion)

I've never had shark fin soup, but I will most certainly would be willing to try it if I'm in an area that it's available.

Why? Because it sounds intriguing and has been a part of food culture for centuries. In New Jersey, it's now banned. The real question is: how many restaurants in New Jersey were serving it? I've never seen it on a menu and I get around the state quite a bit.

How many New Jersey fisherman were practicing 'finning?' That's the practice of cutting off a shark's fin and then releasing the wounded beast back into the water. Sure it sounds awful - especially if you've never had it or grew up with little or no knowledge that it was even a thing. Ya know we kill and consume cows and chickens by the billions, right? Undoubtedly the discarded shark becomes food for other species that would otherwise be unable to win a battle with a fully functioning shark.

Stop trying to make sharks out to be victims. They are aggressive ocean creatures responsible for quite a few attacks on innocent swimmers, and culturally a delicacy in some Asian nations. You may not like it, but I'm so sick of the bullies on the life - and right - culturally appropriating their judgment on others.

Remember the controversy over the long-held Korean tradition of eating dogs? It was ridiculous that a bunch of entitled Americans thought they should be 'liberating' dogs from consumption in Korea, a poor nation split in half with one impoverished and enslaved by dictatorship. They don't have the industry to support the mass production of food that we take for granted in the US. I wrote about this a couple years ago, defending the practice - although I clearly stated I couldn't do it. In America, they're pets and family members.

As far as the sharks, what are we protecting them from? They are brutal apex predators wreaking having on other sea creatures. If anything, culling the shark population has benefits to other marine life. And if we're gonna kill 'em, we may as well eat 'em. ... In reality, bans in the US have nearly ZERO impact on the actual issue of shark fishing. In reality, like consumption of dogs, eating of sharks is declining worldwide. It's typical government getting invoked in an issue to make a headline instead of focusing on  actual problems that are hurting the human population.

We have a governor who is more focused on creating solution to problems that don't exist instead of dealing with the problems that his administration is making worse: Defunding school districts, releasing alleged violent criminals, blocking cooperation with our own federal government, increasing taxes and fees, sending out talking points while our transportation system continues to fail and using the power of government to take on political enemies instead of using the tools available to empower working families and small businesses.

So shark soup won't be on the menu tonight. Guess I'll have to settle for a little fois gras.

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