Almost four out of five Hong Kong people think it is acceptable not to serve shark fin soup at a wedding banquet in a turnaround from tradition, a survey published on Wednesday showed.

About two out of five questioned have even thought of alternatives to replace the controversial dish, suggesting a vegetarian version or a soup using fish maw, or air bladder.

The survey - conducted by the University of Hong Kong Social Sciences Research Centre and BLOOM, a non-profit organisation concerned with marine conservation - polled 1, 000 people in the city, the world centre of shark fin trading, from 2009 to 2010.

It found that more than 70 per cent had eaten shark fin soup in the 12 months that ended in January 2010. Of those, 90 per cent had eaten it at a wedding.

Shark fin soup is a traditional dish served at Chinese weddings and other important banquets and corporate events.

BLOOM founder Claire Nouvian said the results showed that while tradition was important to Hong Kong people, shark fin soup would not be missed if it were excluded from a wedding banquet.

Hong Kong handles about 50 per cent of the world's trade in shark fin.

According to BLOOM, 73 million sharks are killed each year for the shark fin industry, resulting in sharp declines in shark populations.