Our analysis of production and cost begins with a period economists call the short. run. Theshort run in this microeconomic context is a planning period over which the. managers of a firm must consider one or more of their factors of production as fixed.
Sharks have two sets of paired fins on the sides of their body, in the same general position as the main wings and horizontal tail wings of a plane. The shark can position these fins at different angles, changing the path of the water moving around them.
Today, fins are the most valuable part of a shark. The targeted shark-fin fisheries around the world are trading the fins of between 26 to 73 million sharks every year (according to a 2006 estimate) with a worth of $400-550 million. Driving this trade is the demand for and consumption of shark fin soup in Asia.