One of the greatest threats facing worldwide populations of sharks is finning - the culling of sharks for their fins to use in soup. The soup itself has no nutritional value, but is seen as a luxury dish, a signifier of wealth and social status. The process of harvesting the fins is cruel - the sharks are caught, de-finned and then thrown back into the water alive. A shark without its fins is rudderless. It will swim in circles until it dies, slowly, on the ocean floor. The fins are extremely valuable - the larger the fin the higher the bounty - but the flesh of the shark is worthless.