The IUCN/SSC Shark Specialist Group
Shark News 8: December 1996
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High Mercury Levels in Shark's Fin
The Hong Kong Standard reported in October that samples of shark fin
bought from Hong Kong wholesalers and tested in the US were found to
contain up to 5.84 ppm of mercury (maximum permitted levels in Hong
Kong are only 0.5 ppm). This is not surprising: as top predators, sharks
readily acculmulate heavy metals through the marine food chain.
Indeed, in 1972 the sale of large school sharks Galeorhinus galeus was
banned in Victoria, Australia, because of their high mercury content.
The newspaper article also pointed out that scientists and medics
recognise that mercury may be a cause of subnormal sperm counts in
man. Perhaps wider awareness of this possible link between the
excessive consumption of shark fin soup and male infertility could
help to reduce the demand for shark fin in international trade?
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