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Students in shark costumes used an annual charity walk Sunday to protest against rising consumption of shark's fin soup, which they said is decimating shark populations.

A Singaporean student re-enacts the removal of a shark's fin during a protest in Singapore September 7, 2003. A group of 20 university students staged the re-enactment at the end of a charity walk in a bid to have the slaughter of sharks banned. In many parts of Asia shark fin soup is a prized cuisine and a symbol of generosity and wealth, but the hunting of sharks has depleted some shark populations by as much as 90 per cent, with around 100 million sharks caught each year for their fins. [REUTERS]

As the sharks neared the finish line of the 10-kilometer (six-mile) walk, a fellow student pretending to be a knife-wielding chef sliced off their fins and left them for dead, demonstrating the common practice of shark finning.

Shark fins are more lucrative than shark meat, and fishermen have taken to slicing them off and tossing the rest of the shark _ sometimes still alive _ back in the water.

``It's a cruel and gruesome practice,'' said economics student and demonstrator Serena Tay, 19. ``The fins themselves are tasteless and the rest of the body parts are just wasted.''

More than a dozen university students took part in the demonstration, funded by local animal rights group Wild Aid.

Shark's fin is prized for its smooth, crunchy texture. It sells for about 70 Singapore dollars (US$40) per kilogram (2.2 pounds) in Singapore.

Tay said she doubts Singaporeans will stop eating shark's fin soon, but hopes that by educating the public the amount consumed will decline.

Singapore imported 632 tons of dried shark's fin last year, up considerably from the 507 tons in 2001, according to a statement from Wild Aid.

Soup made from the fins is enjoyed by many among the city-state's ethnic Chinese. It is commonly served as a delicacy at Chinese banquets and weddings.

Ethnic Chinese make up about 78 percent of the 4 million people in Singapore, a wealthy Southeast Asian city-state.

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