Sea Shepherd Slams Disney in the New York Times

New York Times reporter Keith Bradsher's story Hong Kong Disneyland is in the Soup was published in the June 16th edition of the New York Times.

The full story can be found in both two newspapers:

New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/17/business/worldbusiness/17shark.html?hp&ex=1119067200&en=6e19d06b6fb1dc35&ei=5094&partner=homepage

International Herald Tribune:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/15/business/shark.php

The story of Disneyland's plans to serve shark fin soup at Hong Kong Disneyland is now international. The story reports that schoolchildren in Hong Kong are now organizing petitions against Disneyland.

References and quotes from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society include:

"They say it's cultural - does that mean Disneyland in Japan is now going to be having whale burgers?" asked Paul Watson, the founder and president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in Friday Harbor, Washington.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has begun marketing T-shirts showing Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck waving knives and bearing faintly sadistic grins as they stand over three bleeding sharks that have lost their fins; Watson said that he hoped Disney would sue, because he believed the shirts were a legally protected parody and because a lawsuit would draw attention to the issue.

Disneyland Hong Kong is defended in the article by Cheung Yu-yan, a member of Hong Kong's legislature who was elected by the city's restaurateurs. Cheung Yu-yan said that chefs were only serving what the public wanted, and warned that any other kind of soup would be much less profitable. "You can't get any money out of your patrons if you don't sell shark's fin soup," which can command up to $150 a bowl at the best restaurants, he said. In a veiled appeal to people's fears, he joked that if the sharks were not eaten, they might be prowling near swimming beaches instead.

"The truth is that there are few sharks prowling beaches but there are thousands of human beings maliciously prowling the world's oceans with the intent to maim and murder sharks," said Captain Paul Watson, president of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.