Tuesday, January 27, 2009

There is Hope!

Lawrence Groth and Christopher Chin chat with Peter Knights from WildAid

There is no light at the end of the tunnel yet.
But there is definitely hope.


When we were planning this event, we never expected any of these establishments to throw down their soup pots and surrender without a fight.
But we did get one after all.

We had a fantastic weekend.

On Saturday, Lawrence Groth and Bob Mc Nerney from Shark Safe and Christopher Chin from COARE joined forces. As a team we went into Chinatown together, we verified several restaurants that serve shark fin soup, and identified a number of markets that sell fins. We provided information in English and Chinese to each of these proprietors, and engaged in some friendly discussion. In all but a few cases, we were treated with respect, and number of restaurateurs seemed quite interested and said they would consider removing shark fin soup from their menus.

We also ran into two restaurant owners who were very much opposed to shark fin soup (one of which was previously and mistakenly noted as offering the soup). We will be working with these two restaurants to help set an example and encourage others to follow the same path.

Sitting down with a map and our notes from the day, we decided upon the most effective approach and prioritized locations to picket the next day.


Sunday's healthy turnout was welcomed by a warm sunny morning at Portsmouth Square.
After everyone signed in, we gave a briefing and then led several groups up to start with the markets. We were cheered on by passersby, cars honked in support, and even a few of the bus drivers shouted kudos. Our next wave placed participants in carefully selected locations near popular restaurants serving the soup. At the end of the day, we had one restaurant agree to remove it from their menu, and another offered to stop serving it if we would help with the costs of reprinting the menus. We'll be following up with both, and will report back.

Among the participants were one couple Kevin and Liz who flew up from LA to be there and also four young men from LA who drove all night to be there and join the protest. The rest were mostly all from the Bay Area and all were enthusiastic. It was a great group of shark people.
Among the visitors to the Shark Safe HQ set up at Portsmouth Square was Peter Knight the executive director of Wildaid. Peter was feeling under the weather and could not stay out in the cold but he did offer some great suggestions and support for future events.

While we were making plans for this weekend's events, it came to our attention that other groups were working on similar programs in the area. WildAid and COARE teamed up to create the Shark-friendly Communities project a few years ago. But has not been active in any efforts recently. In fact a little over a year ago Wildaid had mailed a letter very similar to the letter that we hand delivered on Saturday to every restaurant in SF that served shark fin soup asking the owners of these restaurants to open a dialog with Wildaid regarding the shark finning issue. They sadly received absolutely NO response.

COARE has planned to start a similar campaign to the successful "Dolphin Safe" campaign of the 1980's. We also modeled our "Shark Safe"organization after the same. With two organizations with the same ideas and the same goals, great things can happen!
We found that we're all pointed in the same direction, and we're combining our forces - our resources, energy, enthusiasm, and our supporters, to have a greater impact in San Francisco and around the world.

Stay tuned for new developments.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

To all participants planning to join
the Shark Fin Soup Protest
in SF Chinatown

Recently there have been shark finning demonstrations in other cities. Some of these events involved participants marching down the street chanting slogans. This may be an effective tactic in those cities, but our event in San Francisco’s Chinatown will use a different approach or tactic. We will not march down the street chanting.

We hope for positive results wherever anti-shark-finning movements are held, and ours will be non-confrontational. San Francisco’s Chinatown is a unique and complex community. Marching and shouting will have little or no effect in this community. It would be perceived as nothing more than a mere nuisance and ignored.

The San Francisco protest will involve strategic placement of small groups of protesters at specifically targeted locations. We will have as many groups as possible spread out to these various locations to maximize the possibility of accomplishing our goal for this event.
Our goal is to educate the public about the health hazards involved and the devastating effects that Shark Fin Soup consumption is having on the environment. We will attempt to convince people to not order or make shark fin soup. We will also try to persuade restaurants to stop offering shark fin soup to their patrons.
We will do this by having our small groups stand in front of the targeted locations holding signs with that message. We will be handing out informational leaflets (written in English and Chinese) detailing the issues connected to shark fin soup consumption. We will use courtesy and respect to convey our message.
We understand that many shark advocates are very passionate about their beliefs. We want to invite the Chinatown community to understand and share our passion and receive our message clearly.

Code of Conduct for Participants in the
SF Chinatown Shark Fin Soup Protest Demonstration

  • All participants will conduct themselves in a peaceful and respectful manner.
  • Participants shall not make any racial or derogatory remarks towards any person.
  • Participants shall not enter any establishment that is being boycotted or picketed.
  • Participants shall not block any persons from entering or exiting any building or structure.
  • Participants shall not purposely disrupt vehicle or pedestrian traffic.
  • NO violence of any kind will be tolerated.

Participants will be required to check in at Portsmouth Square before joining the demonstration.

See you there!

Thank you all !
For the tremendous outpouring of support.


Since announcing the Shark Safe Project and the upcoming event in San Francisco’s Chinatown we have received hundreds of emails from concerned shark lovers and supporters from all over the US and from around the world.
Many people have expressed a sincere interest in starting a similar effort in their own home city. We will do everything we possibly can to continue this effort and provide support for these future efforts.


You all can start now to begin preparing for a successful campaign in your area.


  • Reach out to the Chinese and Asian community by contacting schools and various youth groups such as Boy Scout troops, Church groups, sport clubs, schools, etc…

  • Offer to speak at group meetings and events about scuba diving and the ocean environment.


Focus on educational aspects about sharks. It would be great to show slide shows and or videos showing the beauty of sharks. Make your presentation educational. Concentrate on educating these groups about the importance of sharks in the marine environment. Speak about how sharks are at risk of extinction due to over fishing and the demand for shark fin soup. Inspire your audience to be passionate about the marine environment and convince them that they can be active in their own community and promote the protection of sharks.


  • Create a contact list from your audiences and offer to invite them to future events in their local area.


If you start working on this soon you will have created a wonderful, educated and dedicated group of young people to participate in the “Shark Safe” campaign in your area.


We will soon be announcing future “Shark Safe” campaigns in cities such as New York, Miami, Seattle and Los Angeles. If you live near these cities please start preparing in your area.


Shark Safe Project will soon be able to support you further from our website which is currently under construction.


Thank you all.


Yours in sharks,
The Shark Safe Team

Saturday, January 17, 2009

30 More Shark Fin Soup Restaurants in San Francisco

Here (sadly) are 30 more restaurants that serve shark fin soup or offer shark fin soup on their menu. Please contact them and voice your opinions. Politely request that they remove shark products from their menus permanently and never serve shark again.
Remember that these are just the restaurants that serve shark fin soup.

Soon we will be posting actual markets that retail shark fins in San Francisco.


8 Immortals Seafood Restaurant
1433 Taraval St San Francisco, CA 94116 (415) 731-5515

Bay Fung Tong Seafood Tea House

327 Balboa St
San Francisco 94118
(415) 221-8498

Dol Ho 

808 Pacific Ave 
San Francisco 94133
(415) 392-2828

Dragon River

5045 Geary Blvd 
San Francisco, CA 94118 
(415) 387-8512

Emmy's Restaurant

1923 Ocean Ave 
San Francisco, CA 94127 
(415) 585-9880

Four Seas Restaurant

731 Grant Ave 
San Francisco, CA 94108 
(415) 989-8188

Go Go Cafe & Restaurant
1830 Irving St 
San Francisco, CA 94122 
(415) 661-4289

Han Goeng Restaurant
1935 Taraval St 
San Francisco, CA 94116 
(415) 682-8938

Happy Garden Restaurant

815 Clement St 
San Francisco, CA 94118 
(415) 387-4011

Hong Kong Restaurant

2588 Noriega St 
San Francisco, CA 94122 
(415) 665-8338

Joy Luck Place

88 East 4th Ave. 
San Mateo, CA 94401
(650) 343-6988

Jumbo Seafood Restaurant

1532 Noriega St 
San Francisco, CA 94122 
(415) 681-1800

Kirin Restaurant

6135 Geary Blvd 
San Francisco, CA 94121 
(415) 752-2268

Lee Hou Restaurant
332 Clement Street
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 668-8070

Lichee Garden Restaurant

1416 Powell St 
San Francisco, CA 94133 
(415) 397-2290

Louie's California Chinese Cuisine

646 Washington St 
San Francisco, CA 94111 
(415) 291-8038

Mayflower Restaurant

6255 Geary Blvd 
San Francisco, CA 94121 
(415) 387-8338

Ocean Restaurant

726 Clement St 
San Francisco, CA 94118 
(415) 668-8896

Parc Hong Kong 

5322 Geary Blvd 
San Francisco, CA 94121 
(415) 668-8998


San Wong Restaurant

1682 Post St 
San Francisco, CA 94115 
(415) 921-1453

Shanghai 1930

133 Steuart St.
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 896-5600
info@shanghai1930.com

South Sea Seafood Village Restaurant

1420 Irving St 
San Francisco, CA 94122 
(415) 665-8210

Szechuan Second Restaurant

655 Ellis St 
San Francisco, CA 94109 
(415) 346-2823

Taipan Restaurant

560 Waverley St 
Palo Alto, CA 94301 
(650) 329-9168

Taipei Chinese Restaurant

2666 Ocean Ave 
San Francisco, CA 94132 
(415) 753-3338

Tian Sing Restaurant

138 Cyril Magnin St 
San Francisco, CA 94102 
(415) 398-1338

Kay Cheung Restaurant

615 Jackson St
San Francisco 94133
(415) 989-6838

Y. Ben House Restaurant 

835 Pacific Ave 
San Francisco 94133
(415) 397-3168

Yet Wah Restaurant 

5238 Diamond Heights Blvd 
San Francisco 94131
(415) 282-0788

Happy Bakery 

2253 Irving St 
San Francisco 94122
(415) 661-8261

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Shark Finning Protest Demonstration
in San Francisco's Chinatown

The Shark Safe protest demonstration in San Francisco’s Chinatown will be on
Sunday January 25th at 12:00 noon.
(No football games that day so no excuses!)

Participants will meet at Portsmouth Square San Francisco.
The square is centrally located in Chinatown and a great place to meet. There will be a Shark Safe representative there at all times to meet and greet participants. Picket location assignments and supplies will be distributed from Portsmouth Square.

We have 100 picket signs and stacks of leaflets to be handed out. If you could make a personal banner and/or sign please do so and bring them with you.
We will send groups of 3 or more protesters to targeted restaurant and market locations. There are many locations we wish to picket so we will hit as many as we can as time and attendance allows.

The protest will continue until approximately 7:00 pm. It could be a long day so please bring water and snacks with you. In case of inclement weather please bring a coat and or umbrella.

The San Francisco Police department has been very helpful. They have suggested some rules of conduct that all participants should follow.


Rules of engagement are as follows:

  • At no time should any participant block or disrupt street vehicle traffic.
  • At no time shall an entrance or exit to any establishment be blocked or barriers of any type be erected that would impede persons from escaping the establishment in case of emergency such as fire or earthquake.
  • At no time shall a participant deface any private or public property.
  • Loud speakers over 10 dcb are not allowed.
  • No violence will be tolerated.
  • For emergencies dial 911

Everyone has the right to FREE SPEECH and we are welcome by the city of San Francisco as long as we do not break the law!

Protesters will stand in front of targeted restaurants and shark fin market locations holding signs and banners. Leaflets will be distributed to pedestrians passing by or entering the picket locations. Our goal is to convince patrons to stop patronizing the restaurants that serve shark fin soup and to encourage them to patronize the establishments that do not serve shark fin soup (SHARK SAFE) instead.

Keep it simple!

For questions or more info email us at sharksafe@comcast.net

Friday, January 2, 2009

First Target Assignments
for Operation Shark Safe SF 2009

  1. A-1 Cafe Restaurant 779 Clay St (415) 398-3691
  2. Broadway Dim Sum Cafe 684 Broadway (415) 989-2038
  3. Capital Restaurant 839 Clay St (415) 397-6269
  4. Cathay House 718 California St (415) 982-3388
  5. Chinatown Restaurant 744 Washington St (415) 392-7958
  6. Chung King Restaurant 606 Jackson St (415) 986-3899
  7. Empress Of China 838 Grant Ave (415) 434-1345
  8. Far East Cafe 631 Grant Ave (415) 982-3245
  9. Four Seas Restaurant 731 Grant Ave (415) 989-8188
  10. Garden Restaurant The 716 Kearny St (415) 956-2480
  11. Gold Mountain Restaurant 644 Broadway (415) 296-7733
  12. Grand Palace Restaurant 950 Grant Ave (415) 982-3705
  13. Great Eastern Restaurant 649 Jackson St (415) 986-2500
  14. Great Oriental Restaurant 848 Washington St (415) 398-3691
  15. Hong Kong Clay Pot City Restaurant 960 Grant Ave (415) 989-2638
  16. Hunan Homes Restaurant 622 Jackson St (415) 982-2844
  17. Kam Lok Restaurant 834 Washington St (415) 421-8102
  18. Kan's Restaurant 708 Grant Ave (415) 362-5267
  19. Lichee Garden Restaurant 1416 Powell St (415) 397-2290
  20. Ming Seafood Garden 839 Kearny St (415) 956-7868
  21. New Hong Kong Menu 667 Commercial St (415) 391-3677
  22. New Woey Loy Goey Restaurant 699 Jackson St (415) 399-0733
  23. Ocean Pearl Restaurant 781 Broadway (415) 397-5799
  24. Oriental Pearl Restaurant 760 Clay St (415) 433-1817
  25. Pearl City Seafood Restaurant 641 Jackson St (415) 398-8383
  26. R & G Lounge 631 Kearny St (415) 982-7877
  27. Sam Lok Restaurant 655 Jackson St (415) 981-8988
  28. Silver Restaurant 737 Washington St (415) 434-4998
  29. Yee's Restaurant 1131 Grant Ave (415) 576-1818
  30. Young's Cafe 601 Kearny St (415) 397-3455

Here are the first 30 targets. All of the above SF Chinatown restaurants serve shark fin soup and have been confirmed by our team.

San Francisco Chinatown Protest


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The Shark Safe Project is starting 2009 “The Year of the Shark” with a protest demonstration in San Francisco’s Chinatown on January 25th and 26th (Chinese New Year).
Please join us as we will be picketing several establishments including restaurants that serve shark fin soup and shark fin markets.

This is intended to be a peaceful demonstration yet an aggressive protest to convince these establishments to cease offering all shark products.

We will be carrying signs and handing out leaflets (written in English and Chinese). Our immediate goal is to educate the local population of the dangers of consuming shark fins and the devastation that shark fining is causing to our oceans. Hopefully convincing many local citizens to stop consuming shark fin soup and other shark products and to stop patronizing establishments that offer such products. Our long-term goal will be to have city ordinances passed to prohibit the import and distribution of all shark products in the city of San Francisco. Making San Francisco the first “Shark Safe” city in the USA.

Those of you that cannot attend the demonstration can still participate by calling the restaurants listed above. You may call each restaurant and voice your concerns about their serving shark fin soup and or make a reservation for a small party for dinner at a certain time. Then call back 10 minutes before your reservation time and cancel your reservation and explain that you are doing so because that establishment chooses to serve shark fin soup and that you will be patronizing a different establishment that does not serve shark fin soup.

When calling these restaurants please be firm but polite and simply voice your opinions. Please do not make any threats or speak harshly to the employee that answers the phone, as they more than likely are not the actual proprietor who makes up the menu or purchases the supplies for the restaurant. Being rash or vulgar will not do our cause any good and in fact would be detrimental to our cause.

Shark Safe Project’s intention is to seriously decrease if not eliminate the demand for shark fins globally. It may take one person at a time, one store at a time, one street at a time, one city at a time but we must start somewhere! We are choosing San Francisco as it is home of the largest Chinatown outside of Asia.

PLEASE JOIN US!