Shark-fin soup might be the most talked about Asian dish these days as shark-finning, or slicing fins from live sharks and dumping their bodies overboard, remains widely practiced despite increasing concern among environmental groups and scientists, who fear this type of high-level fishing is threatening the existence of certain shark species and causing vast damage to marine ecosystems.

Though there have been national and regional efforts to curtail shark-finning, which kills tens of millions of sharks annually to satisfy demand for soup, international efforts to ban the method have failed.

But awareness seems to be increasing and perhaps future generations will bring about more positive change. As evidence, the following insightful perspective comes in the form of a letter-to-the-editor written by a high-school junior who had, until recently, believed the only good shark was a dead shark. It was published Saturday in the North Carolina's Jacksonville Daily News:

To the editor:

All my life, I have feared and hated sharks. Ironically, I live on a small island off the coast of North Carolina; there is no escaping this phobia. I often see sharks killed gratuitously by coastal fishermen and left to die on the beach. Until recently, this sight did not bother me; I considered every dead shark as a plus as it increased my odds of survival as a swimmer. And when I saw shark's fin soup on Chinese menus, I never questioned it.

However, my perspective suddenly changed after reading about the U.N. Wildlife Trade meeting in Qatar, where China, Japan, Russia, Libya, and Morocco voted against limits on the practice of shark finning. I learned that the killing of sharks strictly for a pound of flesh -- fin flesh -- for soup is common around the globe. I realized that my local teenage view was shifting to a more global perspective. Here is the dilemma: How can we set reasonable limits without violating powerful cultural traditions in these countries?

Even I, an avowed shark hater, was appalled to learn both how cruel and widespread shark finning is. These fearsome but magnificent creatures are caught, stripped of their fins, and tossed overboard to die a long and agonizing death. National Geographic researchers estimate about 38 million sharks are killed each year solely for their fins. That's a lot of sharks killed just for soup. To make matters much worse, the number of some shark species has dropped by as much as 80 percent over the last 50 years, including the species most sought after for their fins: whitetips and hammerheads.

Considered "bycatch," sharks have traditionally not been protected through regulation, so unless the public makes setting limitations on finning an international priority, nothing is likely to change. As a result, ecosystems around the world could suffer, and potential medical research breakthroughs could be affected.

Contrary to Disney's cartoon portrayal of sharks who abide by the motto, "Fish are friends, not food," scientists believe they are actually Jurassic eating machines. The role that sharks play in our oceans is critical to the survival of oceanic ecosystems, as sharks affect the strength and health of the entire food chain from top to bottom. Sharks help maintain the delicate balance between predators and prey. For example, in North Carolina, the shellfish industry is an important part of the coastal economy. Shellfish are constantly threatened by rays, skates, and small sharks. Without the larger sharks -- the most quickly diminishing group -- this balance could be disrupted and the shellfish industry devastated.

In addition to their role in the water, sharks are also important to the study of medicine. According to Dr. Jeffrey Carrier, a biology professor at Albion College, "Medical researchers are interested in learning about the immune systems of sharks. They appear to be nearly impervious to infection, cancers, and circulatory diseases." Losing these top-level predators would limit this kind of promising research.

The only way to limit shark finning is to raise public awareness of its potentially negative impact. But how do you fight Hollywood? Generations of moviegoers, including myself, have a fixed image of the monster shark from the movie "Jaws" in their minds. And more recently, the series called "Shark Week," produced by the Discovery Channel, has fanned the flames of fear even more. These negative images, together with strong cultural traditions of serving shark's fin soup at expensive restaurants and high-level banquets, present a challenge to all citizens of the world.

So how to raise public awareness? One way is to enlist the aid of celebrities; if Yao Ming and Steve Irwin could walk out of Chinese restaurants that serve shark's fin soup, then why can't the rest of us? We can choose to boycott goods produced by the countries that voted against the limitations on shark finning. But perhaps the most important strategy is simply to educate people that sharks are more than just cold-blooded killers.

--Patrick Hernandez, Emerald Isle

Photos courtesy of SharkDiver (top) and Terry Maas / SeaWatch