The fate of Toronto’s proposed ban on selling or consuming shark fins will be decided in committee tomorrow.

A controversial bill signed last week in California by Gov. Jerry Brown has been called discriminatory to Asian culture and cuisine by opponents because the bill focuses on the shark fin rather than the whole shark.

However, supporters of the bill ‘ including Chinese basketball star Yao Ming and actor-activist Leonardo DiCaprio ‘ say the ban is needed to protect dangerously declining shark populations.

Conservation groups estimate more than 73 million sharks are killed for their fins a year.

It’s hoped the ban will decrease the practice of “finning” ‘ cutting off just the fins and leaving the shark to bleed to death in the water.

The valuable fins (worth about $600 a pound) are used in shark fin soup, a Chinese wedding tradition.

Getting the bill passed was the fruit of “a long and hard fight for conservationists in California,” says Claudia Li, founder of the Canadian conservation non-profit Shark Truth. 

She believes the momentum will carry over into tomorrow’s vote at Toronto’s licensing and standards committee.

Shark Truth has more than 2,600 people signed on to an online campaign supporting the ban.