Richard Branson joins fight to save sharks

SHANGHAI, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- British businessman Richard Branson says he's joining a global shark conservation campaign by speaking out against the consumption of shark fin soup.

Branson, joined by Chinese basketball star Yao Ming, made the appeal against the consumption of shark fins to a group of 30 of China's richest and most influential business people in Shanghai, the Daily Telegraph reported Thursday.

The event was sponsored by conservation group WildAid, which says the fins of up to 73 million sharks are harvested and sold each year to feed the demand for the expensive soup featured on the menus of luxury restaurants in China and Hong Kong.

"The world is getting wealthier. In China in particular people are getting more affluent. And they can now afford to buy shark fin soup. So it is a major problem. And therefore, there is a major battle to try to reverse that trend," Branson said.

Of shark fins harvested around the world despite attempts to ban their trade and consumption, 95 percent are consumed in China where the delicacy sells for $140 a pound.