Reportage by Getty Images for CNN
UNTITLED
Countless shark fins sit on the dock after being hauled up from the hold of a ship in Kaoshiung, Taiwan, to be sold to restaurants specializing in shark fin soup. The addition of shark fin to the soup is purely a status symbol. More often than not, the sharks are caught in the open sea, have their fins hacked off and then are dropped back into the water to drown.
