Since January, 2008 the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Bite-Back have been working to have shark fin soup pulled from the menu of Hakkasan, one of the top 20 restaurants in the world.

Hakkasan has been selling shark-fin soup since 2001.

This week Hakkasan has officially removed shark-fin from their menu in recognition of the reality that sharks face extinction because of the market for shark-fin soup.

Bite-Back and Sea Shepherd have been lobbying Hakkasan since the beginning of the year. 

Campaign director at Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said, "This victory for the seas sends out a determined and resolute message to the restaurant world ... sell shark-fin soup and be damned. The only reason shark populations are facing extinction is because of retail and consumer demand. Remove that demand and the shark fishing trade will collapse." 

Fortified by recent support from fellow marine conservation group, Sea Shepherd, Bite-Back has extended its ambition to absolve the UK from the extinction of sharks, by inspiring all traders in shark products to stop. 

"If UK retailers adopt Bite-Back's programme to halt the trade in shark products, we will have created a template for change that can be replicated across the developed world," said Graham. 

To accelerate an end to the trade, Bite-Back's campaigns are working to devalue a dead shark. Biteback and Sea Shepherd are targeting any business that profits from the sale of jaws, cartilage, fins, teeth, meat and liver oil and encourage them to stop. Bite-Back and Sea Shepherd are planning the next peaceful protest in Chinatown on Saturday 26 July. 

Also in the firing line is Holland & Barrett for its continued sale of shark cartilage capsules and non-commitment to back down. Already more than 1,000 Bite-Back supporters have emailed the health store chain, leaving the group with no other alternative then to instigate a nationwide series of peaceful protests outside the offending stores.

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