http://www.examiner.com/article/brunei-bans-the-shark-fin-trade-and-the-harvesting-of-sharks

We are pleased to advise that our efforts have prompted several restaurants to remove shark fin from their menus.
SFFC will be working with restaurant owners to become Certified Shark Fin Free over the coming months via the creation of our Certified Shark Fin Free program and registry that will also be available on our web site.

The restaurants below stated that they did serve shark fin soup at the time of our survey.

Shark fin soup is most commonly served at Chinese weddings.  Attending a wedding this summer?  Ask the bride & groom if they are serving shark fin and if you may opt out?  This also saves the new couple a considerable expense for that one dish.

Please consider patronizing alternative restaurants until these restaurants have been confirmed as having removed shark fin from their menu’s altogether.  listed in alphabetical order

• Beijing Dragon Restaurant Ltd.                   7 Crowfoot Rise NW                 403-208-3533
• Bobby Chao’s                                              18, 34 Edgedale Drive NW       403-207-7840
• Bonavista Peking House                             755 Lake Bonavista Drive SE   403-271-5777
• Central Grand Restaurant                          1623 Centre Street NW             403-277-2000
• Cheung’s Kitchen                                        3-2111 Centre Street NW         403-277-9933
• China Palace Restaurant                            21-6219 Centre Street NW       403-275-2386
• China Sea Restaurant Ltd.                         4323 Macleod Trail SW             403-287-6688
• Cultural Centre Restaurant                         197-1st Street SW                     403-457-0072
• Emerald Seafood Restaurant Ltd                999 36 Street NE                      403-273-2399
• Emperor Seafood                                        197 – 1st Street NW                  403-265-4738
• Forbidden City Dim Sum and Seafood        999 36 Street NE                       403-250-1848
• Ginger Beef Peking House (Willow Park)    10816 Macleod Trail South        403-271-2233
• Happy Hill Seafood                                      806 Centre Street N                   403-276-3288
• Harbour City                                                 302 Centre Street South
• Ho Won Restaurant                                      2nd Avenue SE (2nd Floor)       403-266-2234
• Home Food Inn                                             5222 Macleod Trail SW
• New Dynasty Restaurant                              150 Crowfoot Cres. NW, #201   403-239-3300
• New Dynasty Restaurant                              575 28th Street SE Bay 15        403-248-0061
• New Dynasty Restaurant                              400-388 Country Hills Blvd NE  403-226-5828
• Pebble Street Restaurant                             220 999 36 Street NE                403-204-1616
• Peking Garden                                             4625 Varsity Drive NW               403-286-0488
• Prince Seafood Restuarant                          2825 32 Ave NW                        403-250-8880
• Regency Palace                                           335-328 Centre Street South     403-777-2288
• Silver Dragon Restaurant                          106 3rd Avenue SE                    403-264-5326
• Snow Palace                                                45 Crowfoot Rise NW                 403-208-3533
• Sun’s BBQ Restaurant                                1423 Centre Street NW             403-230-8890
• Treasures of China                                      130 3rd Ave SE                           403-232-6333
• T-pot China Bistro                                       9650 Harvest Hills Blvd.          403-532-3982
• Tenshi Sushi                                                 304 10th Street NW                    403-457-0370
• U & Me Restaurant                                       201, 233 Centre Street SW        403-264-5988

If there is a restaurant serving shark fin missing from this list please advise SFFC immediately to have their name added.  Thank you

*DISCLAIMER*   The information on this list are the results from an independent survey group (that included Chinese Canadians) conducted on behalf of Shark Fin Free Calgary during July & August of 2011 and this information could be out of date.
If you know of OR are a restaurant on this list that no longer serves shark fin please contact SFFC immediately to undergo our certification process, to be removed from this list and to become Certified Shark Fin Free.

NOTES*
i    Most Asian restaurants that have banquet facilities are able to order shark fin soup as special order if requested, even if not on the menu
ii   Many restaurants offered different answers to the question of whether they served shark fin, depending on whether the question was asked in English, or Cantonese/Mandarin
iii  Often English menu’s left off the Shark Fin dishes however in the Chinese Character version of the same menu Shark Fin was available

Additionally there are numerous supermarkets and stores selling Shark Fins, the two largest ones to avoid are:
(with your help we will be adding to this list as well)

• T & T Supermarket (Harvest Hills)        9650 Harvest Hills Blvd NE
• T & T Supermarket (Pacific Place)        999 36 Street NE

Please contact us

Shark Fin Free Calgary is proud to announce we will be launching a certification program for local restaurants to become Certified Shark Fin Free!

Details are currently being worked out, however upon completion of the certification process benefits will include:

• A certification sticker for you to display on the door or inside your restaurant, publicly verifying to your customers that your restaurant has been Certified Shark Fin Free
• Advertising via the Certified Shark Fin Free list being launched on our website (possibly including additional advertizing options, including social media & media releases)

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http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/24/travel/air-new-zealand-shark-fin/

http://oceana.org/en/blog/2013/05/victory-delaware-becomes-seventh-state-in-us-to-ban-shark-fin-trade

Summary of What Happened

Dozens of individuals attended and no members of the public spoke in opposition to Council proceeding with a By-law prohibiting Shark Fin, expressing the sheer urgency of this dire situation and demanding tangible action on the part of Council.
The Calgary Shark Fin Task Force report was presented by the Calgary Director of By-law Services, Tracy Bertsch and Task Force scientific member, Dr. Moehrenschlager, Head of Conservation Research at the Calgary Zoo, who spoke to the scientific information it contained.
The key concern of the task force was the limited amount of time they had to work with; positive progress was made but they simply ran out of time to come to a consensus solution.  As such the Task Force requested more time to work through the ideas and possible solutions on the table.

The Task Force recommendations were approved by CPS and some amendments were added:
- the Task Force suggested it report back in June 2014, this was amended to December 2013; likely in consideration of the numerous public calls on Council to address urgency for this situation
- if a bylaw were to be considered, that reference to “possession” and “consumption” within the bylaw be removed and that an 18 month implementation time frame be provided
- Administration is to identify a means to measure progress on the Task Force recommendations

The Task Force recommendations and the amendments noted above form the final recommendations to Calgary City Council.

What Happens Next?

CPS Committee makes it’s approved recommendations (above) to City Council for a final discussion and vote on May 27, 2013.
At this meeting, recommendations can be passed, defeated or changed by City Council.
Once a motion is passed by City Council, this represents a final decision.

The public is welcome to attend but not able to speak to this item at the City Council meeting on May 27, 2013.

While it is useful to have Shark Fin By-law supporters there, this meeting is likely to be less critical for our attendance than others in the past have been.  The CPS has already reviewed the detailed report and heard from the public on May 8th and approved it for recommendation to council.  Please come if you can, but don’t take the day off… we will need your attendance & support when we head back to Chambers in December!

More Details & Politics…  

(with Calgary’s upcoming municipal election on October 21, 2013 SFFC felt an observation of the May 8th happenings may benefit voters as part of their informed decision making process)

The morning started with the CPS being briefed by both By-law Services on the logistics and Dr. Moehrenschlager on the science.  Thereafter the floor was opened to the public beginning with a jovial yet particularly informative visit and dynamic presentation made by Councilor Kerry Jang from Vancouver who is working on the tri-cities by-law to ban the shark fin trade in Vancouver, Richmond & Burnaby, BC.  Mr. Gabriel Wildgen of Humane Society International also made a special trip in from Montreal to address local council expressing concerns for wasting time prior to moving forward with the local by-law when sharks are being harvested at such a radically unsustainable rate, never mind the animal cruelty involved.

At this point members of the public began to stand up and speak about there grave concerns regarding unsustainable nature of shark finning and the need to keep their municipal pride by having a council that understands it’s citizens can be conservative and also care about the environment, making responsible decisions representative of Calgarians moral and ethically responsible values.

Throughout the proceedings three of the citizen Task Force members also addressed Council.  Annette Fung, owner of Silver Dragon Restaurant requested Council to abandon the proposed by-law but ultimately supported the recommendations in the Task Force report.  Lilly Kwok, Executive Director of the Calgary Chinese Community Service Association spoke in favour of education and supported the recommendations of the Task Force report.  Ingrid Kuenzel, Shark Fin Free Calgary Board Member spoke in favour of moving forward with the by-law after amending the wording to become legally viable but also ultimately supported the recommendations of the Task Force as long as the sense of urgency was inserted into the timelines.  Two other Task Force members were present for the duration of the meeting; Jake Louie, Chairman of the Chinese Cultural Center and Ricky Man, owner of Treasures of China Restaurant, while the sixth Task Force member Kempton Lam was unable to attend.

Unfortunately for the first citizen to speak, Alderman Chabot choose to stroll late into the meeting, just prior to her speaking.  He then proceeded to grill her on by-law enforcement and science.   Though surprised by his condescending tone and  line of questioning  her answers were succinct and on point.  Had Alderman Chabot actually attended the CPS meeting on time he would have had his questions answered by both by-law and the scientist without ever having to ask.  Another citizen later, Alderman Chabot excused himself from the meeting and left only returning after lunch to take a brief nap during the remainder of the meeting and then vote.  Alderman Chabot is not officially on the committee but chose to be present to vote on the shark fin issue despite having missed most of the briefings, discussions & debates.

Alderman Demong, who is on the the CPS Committee also missed most of the meeting and appeared completely disengaged when he was present.  The exception being his only major comment of the day where-in he stated that this was not the city’s business and that this should be left to volunteers to deal with if they feel something needs to be done.  Perhaps Alderman Demong missed the two years of volunteer campaigning done by SFFC and the physical petition of over 11,500 signatures?  Perhaps he missed that all members of the task force are also now volunteers?  Alderman Demong was present to vote.

Other members of the CPS Committee; Alderman Mar – Chair, Alderman Keating – Vice-Chair, Alderman MacLeod, Alderman Pootmans & Alderman Stevenson were prompt, present and engaged in the process.  Alderman Pincott joined the meeting after another board meeting and Alderman Farrell who is not on the standing committee also joined the debates, both respectful and engaged in the process.

Shark Fin Free Calgary (SFFC) was shocked and remains concerned by an assumption of Alderman MacLeod’s late in the hearing, implying that SFFC was responsible for or had engaged in negative campaigning or cultural negativity.  This record was immediately set straight by Ingrid Kuenzel, SFFC board member and Task Force Member at the hearing but SFFC feels this must be addressed, in writing, on our website again.  SFFC is aware of messaging by a group opposing the Shark Fin By-law under the guise of seeking fair governance.  This small group has made numerous unfounded statements to this effect to the media and has frequently distributed non-scientific and inaccurate content.

The mission of Shark Fin Free Calgary (SFFC) is to gather support for and promote a municipal by-law preventing the sale and trade of shark fins in Calgary via positive, education based outreach with citizens of Calgary.
SFFC also works closely with city Council promoting this by-law.
SFFC strongly discourages any negative based campaigning, including protests, demonstrations and culturally insensitive comments or actions.
Our hope has bin to encourage a willingness to change, via positive collaboration with business that may be affected, by helping them to understand the drastic consequences to all of humanity resulting from the sale and trade of shark fins (& any other endangered animal parts).

Given the political roller-coaster that concerned Calgarians have observed in the news over the past year and knowing that SFFC has been campaigning with the support of over 11,500 Calgarians for two years now, may lead some supporters to offer more drastic solutions in an attempt to affect tangible action.
SFFC cannot control what some people feel needs to be done, what other approaches persons may engage in or what people want to or sometimes end up doing.

We have maintained our positive approach.
We will continue our education based outreach and we will continue to lobby for a by-law to prohibit the sale & trade of shark fins in Calgary.

10:00am on Wednesday,May 8th, 2013 the City of Calgary’s Community and Protective Services Committee will be meeting.
All members of the public are welcome to attend and speak at this meeting.

WHERE
The meeting will take place in the Engineering Traditions Committee room in Historic City Hall, first floor.  If you enter through the Historic City Hall there is a security desk as you enter and the person there can direct you very easily.  Note: you enter Historic City Hall on the second floor.
If you enter through the Municipal Building there is an information booth in the main atrium that will be able to direct you.

WHEN
Wednesday, May 8, 2013 (starts at 9:30am) Try to get there for 10:00am
Note* The Community and Protective Services Committee Chair sets the agenda for committee and will be encouraged to deal with this early in the agenda. We are the third agenda item and likely starting after 10:00am.
Unfortunately, we are unable to provide a specific time for this agenda item

HOW does public speaking at committee work? 
Every member of the public is allowed to make a 5 minute presentation.  The chair of the Community and Protective Services Committee will first ask Administration to present their report.  After the presentation, the chair will ask if there are members of the public who wish to speak to this item.  Please declare your interest at that time by stepping forward to the table with microphones.  Members of the public speak one at a time and will be able to provide their presentation uninterrupted. After your presentation, committee members may have questions.
*If you wish to distribute written documentation please email Shark Fin Free Calgary for further details.

The following are the general rules of conduct when a member of the public is speaking at a Committee and/or Council meeting:
When invited by the Chair, come forward to speak.
Speak directly into the voice activated microphone.
Introduce yourself to the Committee, and please spell your name for the record.
Out of respect for all speakers, please adhere to the 5 minute time frame.

WHAT to say?
Most everyone agrees that shark-finning is cruel and wrong.
However the core of the issue remains conservation and sustainability affecting the health of the worlds oceans.
Bring it back to basics; ‘healthy oceans need sharks & all humans need healthy oceans’ and ‘extinction is forever’ to help you present your case.
It is important to speak from your heart, why this is important to you & why you feel that council should take definative action without further delay.
Yes, shark fins are legal now, but does that make it morally and ethically right?
This is the process of how we democratically create laws for the the greater good of all.
Based on public opinion pols over 70% of Calgarians and Canadians are demanding tangible action on the subject of shark fins.  Please come and be apart of this exciting process, stand up for your beliefs, be heard and show council  that the democratic majority is still here and engaging in this process!

Then what happens?
After the public speaks, Committee members will ask Administration to return to the front and may have more questions of Administration.  At this meeting Committee will vote on the recommendations.  At this time, they can accept the recommendations as they appear or make changes.  Committee then makes a recommendation to be debated at a full meeting of Council held at a later date.

NEXT Council meeting – tentatively May 27, 2013
Once voted upon by Committee, the recommendations, as approved by Committee, will then go to City Council for a final vote.  This meeting will likely occur on May 27, 2013.  At this meeting, recommendations can be passed, defeated or changed by City Council.  Once a motion is passed by City Council, this represents a final decision.  The public is not able to speak to this item at a City Council meeting but the public is welcome to attend.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130424/new-caledonia-bans-shark-fishing