BANGKOK — More than half of Thais have eaten shark fin soup and plan to continue consuming the Asian delicacy in the future despite an "alarming" decline in the shark population, a wildlife group said on Tuesday. Of that number, 73 million ended up in shark fin soup, leading to as much as a 98 percent decline in the global shark population since 2002. According to WildAid's report titled "Shark Fin Demand in Thailand," Thailand is the world's biggest shark fin exporter, with more than 22,467 tonnes exported from the South-East Asian country between 2012 to 2016. Some 57 percent of respondents in a recent survey among urban Thai population have consumed shark fin soup in the past year, while 69 percent said they wanted to try out of curiosity. Shark fin soup is priced between 300 to 4,000 baht (US$9 to US$120) with more than 100 restaurants serving the dish in Bangkok alone, the group said.

Source: The China Post July 18, 2017 18:00 UTC