The comments of the Hong Kong University professor were echoed by green groups who claim the theme park will be contributing to an environmental disaster.

In a letter to Disney chief executive Michael Eisner made available to The Standard, Darvell, a former chairman of the Hong Kong Marine Conservation Society and a member of the South China Diving Club, said, "I think this is a mistake of the highest order. No matter that such soup is perceived as prestigious by some consumers, from whom you simply wish to make money, shame on you.''

As first reported in The Standard May 19, the entertainment company said it will hold Chinese banquet-style wedding receptions at its Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel from HK$11,457 a table.

The most expensive banquet package Disneyland offers is HK$15,857 per table, inclusive of beverages, service charge and six tickets to the Lantau theme park.

The menus feature traditional banquet delicacies such as roast suckling pig, shark fin soup and sliced abalone.

"We're very surprised Disney is promoting shark fin soup on wedding banquet menus,'' said Martin Baker, a Greenpeace spokesman.

"There's no way Disney should be supporting unsustainable trade.''

Baker said members of the public are unaware of how precarious shark life is in today's oceans. "They are not given the information of how endangered or how unsustainable the fishing trade is,'' he said. "It's a tremendous waste.''

Disney public relations manager Esther Wong, who confirmed The Standard report, said in a prepared statement, "Hong Kong Disneyland takes environmental stewardship very seriously and we are equally sensitive to the local cultures.

"It is customary for Chinese restaurants and 5-star hotels to serve shark fin soup in Hong Kong as the dish is considered as an integral part of Chinese banquets.''

When asked if Hong Kong Disneyland had chosen to offer the dish, which is illegal in many countries, at the behest of the territory's tourism board, Wong denied this was the case.

Disney's policy, found on its Web site, states the company will "work to identify issues that may not yet be identified in the law, but could result in adverse environmental effects.''

Shark fin soup has long been decried by environmentalists and animal rights activists for the brutal way in which the fins are harvested and because of overfishing.

However, the practice is not illegal here, largely because eating shark fin soup carries cultural significance: it is seen as luxurious and a display of affluence.

Of the 10 world conservation treaties signed by the Hong Kong government, none deals in shark fins.

Shark fin soup can cost nearly US$400 (HK$3,120) a bowl in upscale restaurants around the world.

A 2004 survey by The International Union for the Conservation of Nature found that out of 262 shark species around the world, 56 were endangered.

The National Geographic Society reported in 2003 that 50-85 percent of the world's shark fin trade came through Hong Kong. China exports 4,000 tons of the fins a year, according to a Toronto Globe and Mail report. The trade has been linked to execution-style killings of triad shark fin gangs in Fiji in the past.

A paper by Peter Gastrow, Organised Crime and Corruption Programme, Institute for Security Studies in South Africa, said in a 2001 report that Hong Kong triads had been linked to the shark fin trade in South Africa.

In his letter to Eisner, Darvell drew on an archived email discussion at the South China Diving Club website. Members engaged in a lively discussion about the legality and alleged passive promotion of shark fin soup by the Hong Kong tourist board.

There was a letter from Selina Chow, the chairman of the board, who on July 11, 2002 wrote in an email to Tristan Green, a diving club member: "Shark fin is a legal product in Hong Kong and it would be untenable for us to discriminate against shops or restaurants offering this product by refusing to list them in our publicity.''

Baker said Greenpeace understood the cultural significance, but "the whole thing is that it's got to be sustainable.'' `

douglas.crets@singtaonewscorp.com