Calgary group argues against proposed ban on shark fins

Members of Calgary's Chinese community met on Thursday evening to discuss their progress in stopping a ban on shark fins.

City council passed first reading of a bylaw that would ban shark fin soup in the city.

The controversial practice of finning involves cutting fins off live sharks that are sold in restaurants.

The Coalition for Transparent and Accountable Governance represents 53 Chinatown-based non-profit groups and businesses.

Richard Poon speaks for the group and says banning shark fins won’t help the population issue with sharks.

"We want to let the council understand if they want to help the decrease of the shark population, banning shark fins is not the solution – it just won’t help," Poon says.Poon says the group believes city council received a lot of misinformation about the issue when it gave the first reading to the bylaw.

Members of the coalition plan to attend the city council meeting on Jan. 28 when the proposed bylaw is expected to receive a second reading.