MANTAS & MOBULAS BEING USED AS SHARK FIN SOUP FILLER

According to the Times Online (UK) - the London Times - at
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6345512.ece , the falling shark population is prompting Asian chefs to look for manta rays & mobula rays to meet the voracious demand for shark fin soup. Until recently, they have been hunted only by subsistence fishermen, who harpoon them. But in the eastern Indonesian port of Lamakera, catches of manta have rocketed from a few hundred to about 1500 a year. "Mantas and mobulas are being used as shark fin soup filler," said Tim Clark, a marine biologist at the University of Hawaii. The cartilage is being mixed with low-grade shark fins in cheap versions of the soup. So divers, next time you're in Indonesia, raise a little hell about manta fishing.”