The giant American company said in a brief statement it had decided to abandon plans to serve the controversial dish after failing to find suppliers that did not harvest the fins in an inhumane way.

The U-turn was welcomed by environmentalists who had launched a global protest against the company after it said it would serve the delicacy -- whose popularity is blamed for waning shark populations -- at wedding banquets.

"We applaud Disney for making the right decision to remove shark fin from their menu," Ginette Hemley of conservation group WWF said in a statement.

"Many shark populations are under attack by man. Disney's action helps pull sharks from the jaws of yet another threat," she added.

Hong Kong is the centre of the world's shark's fin trade -- some 80 percent of all fins sold on the world market come through here. Activists say millions of sharks are killed each month for their fins

Although tasteless, the gelatinous dish's high price makes it a status symbol and its consumption is considered a mark of wealth.

Disney's climbdown came after two months of intense protests from conservationists and concerned customers around the world.

The protests threatened to overshadow the 3.2 billion dollar park's opening, due in September.

Disney had resisted calls to drop the dish, but in a bid to ease concerns said it would only serve it on request and would hand out leaflets to customers informing them of the damage the demand for shark's fin did to the environment.

It also said it would only source its supplies from fishermen who did not practice "finning" -- a harvesting technique by which the shark's fins are hacked off and the rest of the fish is dumped and left to die.

It said it had pulled the dish after failing to secure such supplies.

"After careful consideration and a thorough review process, we were not able to identify an environmentally sustainable fishing source, leaving us no alternative except to remove sharks' fin soup from our wedding banquet menu," the statement read.

Disney had defended its plan saying shark's fin soup was a traditional Chinese dish and would be served in respect to cultural sensitivities.

But Don Robinson, Hong Kong Disneyland's group managing director, said the company had a good environmental reputation to keep.

"Striking the right balance between cultural sensitivities and conservation has always been out goal," he said.

Man Kei Tam, campaigns manager for environmental group Greenpeace said he hoped Disney's move would send a signal to other businesses that serve the dish.

"More importantly it sends a signal about sustainable business and fisheries," he told AFP.

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