The IUCN/SSC Shark Specialist Group
Shark News 8: December 1996
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New Study Calls For Improved Shark Fisheries Management and Monitoring
Bobbie Jo Kelso, TRAFFIC International
The trade in sharks and shark products is vast and increasing, with at least 125 countries becoming involved and new markets emerging in recent years, according to the findings released in early December of an intensive global study by the TRAFFIC Network.
TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring programme of IUCN -The World Conservation Union and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), found that in some regions the increased trade in shark products such as fins, cartilage and liver oil have undoubtedly played a role in increased shark harvests. At the same time, however, most fisheries for sharks and related species remain largely unregulated or unmonitored, and catch and landings are much more extensive than official statistics indicate.
Pivotal to the findings, published in the new TRAFFIC report An Overview of World Trade in Sharks and other Cartilaginous Fishes by Debra A. Rose, is that the information available on the volume of catch, landings and trade is significantly incomplete and, in some cases, can even be misleading. In addition, the species involved are rarely specified.
Regional TRAFFIC studies found that sharks, skates and rays have gained an increasing share of domestic and international meat markets in recent years. In South America and the USA, for example, fresh shark steaks and fillets are commonly offered in supermarkets. Shark meat, often sold under market names such as Rock Salmon and saumonette, also features prominently in the diets of Europeans. New shark meat products are also appearing in markets. One recently established processing plant in Port Adelaide, Australia, produces shark jerky from tiger sharks Galeocerdo cuvier, mako sharks Isurus spp., sawfishes (Pristidae) and blue sharks Prionace glauca for export to North and South Korea.
Shark fins are also a highly sought after commodity, particularly for the Chinese delicacy shark fin soup. Hong Kong sits at the centre of a global trade. In addition to Hong Kong, China and Singapore appear to be the world's biggest shark fin traders. Shark fins are now among the world's most expensive fisheries products. In Hong Kong, retail prices generally range from US$40 per kilo to US$564 per kilo, while a bowl of shark fin soup can sell for up to US$90.
While the trade in shark fins has undoubtedly increased, one key finding is that a significant proportion of reported world trade in shark fins may in fact be repeat counting of the same fins. According to Hong Kong Customs data, for example, total reported imports of shark fin to Hong Kong rose from 2.7 million kilos in 1980 to 6.1 million in 1995. However, much of the increase appears to be attributed to fins counted at least twice in trade when exported from Hong Kong to China for processing and then re-exported back to Hong Kong for domestic consumption or export. This repeat counting may also appear in the trade statistics of China, Singapore and regional trade centres, such as the USA and Yemen.
In recent years, a variety of new developments have taken place in the shark fin trade. In the USA, for example, fin dealers report the entry of numerous new entrepreneurs into the trade, increased market development and communications and thus more competition. A resulting rise in fin prices greatly stimulated a directed shark fishery in the south-eastern part of the country. Increased trade networks and fin prices have also led to new markets for shark fins in Africa and increased fishing effort, with Chinese fin traders from Hong Kong supplying gear to local fishermen in West Africa in return for any shark fins harvested. In Tanzania, the number of fin traders has rapidly increased, resulting in fin prices rising by some 70 per cent.
Dried shark fins on sale in Hong Kong. Photo: Rob Parry-Jones, TRAFFIC.
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The liver and body oils of sharks, such as the piked or spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias, are used in the USA and Europe in the tanning and curing of leather. Shark liver oil is also used in Japan in sanitary wipes for cleaning toilets, in a French perfumery, and is sometimes used as an ingredient in an over-the-counter haemorrhoid ointment manufactured in the USA and distributed internationally. In Africa, shark liver oil is used or traded domestically within Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania and Madagascar for use in maintenance of traditional fishing vessels.
Shark liver oil also yields squalene, an acyclic hydrocarbon used in the manufacture of lubricants, bactericides, pharmaceuticals and cosmetic products such as skin creams. Japan has historically been one of the most important squalene producers. While export data are not available for Japan after 1980, South Korea reported importing an average of 52 tonnes annually from Japan during 1987 to 1994. South Korea itself appears to be the world's largest consumer.
One production trend suggested by TRAFFIC's regional market studies is a decline of shark liver and liver oil processing and marketing by many former suppliers, in part because of the difficulty of collecting the livers and the strong odour of the products. As a result, much of the current production has shifted to developing countries. While these products were found in many countries during the study, the prevalence of products found in European countries and the development of new fisheries for liver oil in Spain indicate that European markets for shark liver oil or squalene products appear to be growing.
Shark cartilage is a relatively new product on the market and is used to produce several medicinal and food products. Neither national fisheries agencies nor Customs agencies report production or trade volumes. TRAFFIC research indicates that major producing nations include Australia, Japan and the USA. Shark cartilage is also supplied by and/or manufactured in a number of other countries, such as Argentina, Mexico, New Zealand and possibly Kenya. In the USA alone, pre-packaged cartilage products are marketed and exported under dozens of brand names to about 35 countries. Retail prices can reach up to US$100 for a single bottle of capsules.
Improved trade monitoring is clearly needed to assess the species composition of products in trade and to detect regional and world-wide trends in demand and supply. Even more pressing, however, are improvements in basic fisheries management, research and data collection.
Reference
Rose, D.A. 1996. An Overview of World Trade in Sharks and Other
Cartilaginous Fishes. TRAFFIC International. 106pp.
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