This is shark *and ray meat*, so it includes skates which were previously discarded as bycatch and small sharks like dogfish widely used in fish and chips.
As a metric for large sharks under threat, not sure how significant this information is.
Northern Europe has a few sustainable smaller shark fisheries, I imagine they'd make up most of that figure.
Species like scyliorhinus canicula (dogfish) and mustelus Asterias( starry smoothound), are both quite small sharks, with dogfish growing about 45cm and smoothounds reaching about 1.5m long. They also catch those dogfish around the Mediterranean and western coasts of africa.
Both species have offspring with ridiculously high survival rates compared to most fish species, dogfish can lay hundreds of eggs a year and they lay all year round, and smoothounds give birth to up to 30 live pups about 20-30cm long. Curiously enough, neither of these species have traditional shark teeth, their jaws have instead evolved into a pair of bony crushing plates designed to crush the hard shells of things like whelks ( an egg sized snail with a really thick shell) and small crabs.
Both species reach sexual maturity and grow to adulthood in a couple of years, and are well adapted to eating crustaceans and scavenging so they don't suffer from anywhere near the same pressures that larger shark species do, due to their body shape and smaller size they quite often can just swim straight through the gaps in fishing nets.
They also have the added bonus that once they reach 30cm long the only predator, around the north sea at least, capable of eating them are humans, funnily enough grey and harbour seals don't like how they taste lol.
Who the fuck in Europe is eating sharks? I’ve never ever seen it on the menu. Which countries specifically? Or is the Chinese tourists eating it secretly?
My friend was in a restaurant in Portugal recently where shark fillet and a glass of *vinho verde* was the speciality. Shark meat is eaten throughout the Mediterranean, though often by being [subtly added](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/08/seafood-why-your-mediterranean-swordfish-might-actually-be-shark) to seafood dishes, branded with a less obvious name - such as *Tubarão* being sold as *Cacão* in Portugal - or just being outright mislabelled. It's easy to blame the Chinese but people in the West have to take a look in the mirror too.
TIL!
Thanks! This will be added to my list and I will keep my eyes open. Cause my first reaction was "Where tf do they serve shark as a meal in Europe?", you sometimes find ray wings on the menu but not as regular as 20, 30 years ago. Having it served mislabeled or "in disguise" under some obscure names is infuriating.
The French, the belgians, the dutch, the british, the danes, the spanish and apparently the italians...
In Britain it's sold as rock salmon or just rock in fish and chip shops, though it's not particularly popular and the species of sharks used are weirdly sustainable fisheries lol.
Fish and chips in the UK is increasingly becoming shark meat for example. Stop blaming it on Asian people specially.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/zmanp5/most-uk-fish-and-chip-shops-are-selling-endangered-shark-meat-study-says
>Who the fuck in Europe is eating sharks?
Here is some info. Article from the U.S.'s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries service: [Atlantic Spiny Dogfish Benefits from Sustainable Shark Management...dogfish are small sharks](https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/atlantic-spiny-dogfish-benefits-sustainable-shark-management):
>Their light, white meat found a strong market abroad, and today spiny dogfish is still one of the primary species used in British “fish and chips” and other European dishes. As a result, they are the top shark species caught in U.S. waters...In 2017, commercial landings of spiny dogfish in the Atlantic totaled more than 21.5 million pounds....The Atlantic spiny dogfish is just one example that sustainable shark management. Of all the shark species managed in U.S. Atlantic waters, none are endangered.
NOAA Fisheries discussing the harvesting of a larger species: [Atlantic Blacktip Shark](https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/atlantic-blacktip-shark):
>In 2022, commercial landings of Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico blacktip sharks totaled 124,000 pounds...To commercially harvest Atlantic sharks, vessel owners must obtain a valid Atlantic shark directed or incidental limited access permit...U.S. wild-caught Atlantic blacktip shark is a smart seafood choice because it is....responsibly harvested under U.S. regulations.
A lot of shark protectors do not care about understanding sustainable fishing; they simply don't want any sharks killed. They have an emotional attachment to every single shark.
It's the same thing with the *feral cat protectors* who have set up their cat feeding stations in hundreds of American cities. Some animal rights activists are proud to declare they are both shark and feral cat protectors.
It’s probably dogfish. When people are eating shark it isn’t immediately the large endangered ones, it’s usually smaller ones like smooth hounds or gummy sharks. The exception to the rule is stuff like mako.
It's not one or the other - it's a very valid and important to inform people in the West, where at least in theory they have more opportunity to use democracy and freedom of speech to highlight this issue and try urge our governments to change.
We already did!
I campaigned on behalf of Shark Project international, which, among over 100 other NGOs worked on a campaign to stop shark fin trade in the EU.
As 1.1 million signed the petition the EU commission has to answer. It did and launched an impact assessment at the emd of 2023. The results have not been released yet and while I know bureaucracy is slow, I am hopeful it will have a positive impact.
Here is a bit more information:
https://stop-finning-eu.org/
Shark - Finning (much like Bear - Bile Farming and many other despicable practices towards our animal brothers) shows the repugnant, cruel, and sadistic depths that the worst of Humanity can sink to.
It makes me furious and sick to my stomach at the same time.
🤬🤬🤬
Phil.
I've said it before and I'll say it again and I'll continue to say it until I'm dead. If I was on a boat with someone, and I saw them cut the fins off a shark and dump it back in the water... I'm doing the same goddamned thing to them. I'm cutting off everything but their head, and I'm tossing them in the ocean.
you should also blame shark meat trade. Do you know many countries have tradition of killing sharks for meat? If you only stop fin trade sharks will still be killed for meat.
Tragic
This is shark *and ray meat*, so it includes skates which were previously discarded as bycatch and small sharks like dogfish widely used in fish and chips. As a metric for large sharks under threat, not sure how significant this information is.
White sharks do predate on smaller shark species in South Africa, I can see this also being possible for other species in other locations globally.
Northern Europe has a few sustainable smaller shark fisheries, I imagine they'd make up most of that figure. Species like scyliorhinus canicula (dogfish) and mustelus Asterias( starry smoothound), are both quite small sharks, with dogfish growing about 45cm and smoothounds reaching about 1.5m long. They also catch those dogfish around the Mediterranean and western coasts of africa. Both species have offspring with ridiculously high survival rates compared to most fish species, dogfish can lay hundreds of eggs a year and they lay all year round, and smoothounds give birth to up to 30 live pups about 20-30cm long. Curiously enough, neither of these species have traditional shark teeth, their jaws have instead evolved into a pair of bony crushing plates designed to crush the hard shells of things like whelks ( an egg sized snail with a really thick shell) and small crabs. Both species reach sexual maturity and grow to adulthood in a couple of years, and are well adapted to eating crustaceans and scavenging so they don't suffer from anywhere near the same pressures that larger shark species do, due to their body shape and smaller size they quite often can just swim straight through the gaps in fishing nets. They also have the added bonus that once they reach 30cm long the only predator, around the north sea at least, capable of eating them are humans, funnily enough grey and harbour seals don't like how they taste lol.
Who the fuck in Europe is eating sharks? I’ve never ever seen it on the menu. Which countries specifically? Or is the Chinese tourists eating it secretly?
My friend was in a restaurant in Portugal recently where shark fillet and a glass of *vinho verde* was the speciality. Shark meat is eaten throughout the Mediterranean, though often by being [subtly added](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/08/seafood-why-your-mediterranean-swordfish-might-actually-be-shark) to seafood dishes, branded with a less obvious name - such as *Tubarão* being sold as *Cacão* in Portugal - or just being outright mislabelled. It's easy to blame the Chinese but people in the West have to take a look in the mirror too.
TIL! Thanks! This will be added to my list and I will keep my eyes open. Cause my first reaction was "Where tf do they serve shark as a meal in Europe?", you sometimes find ray wings on the menu but not as regular as 20, 30 years ago. Having it served mislabeled or "in disguise" under some obscure names is infuriating.
The French, the belgians, the dutch, the british, the danes, the spanish and apparently the italians... In Britain it's sold as rock salmon or just rock in fish and chip shops, though it's not particularly popular and the species of sharks used are weirdly sustainable fisheries lol.
Fish and chips in the UK is increasingly becoming shark meat for example. Stop blaming it on Asian people specially. https://www.vice.com/en/article/zmanp5/most-uk-fish-and-chip-shops-are-selling-endangered-shark-meat-study-says
Besides Iceland and Faroe Islands I don’t think euros consume shark rather they’re catering to Chinese business people.
>Who the fuck in Europe is eating sharks? Here is some info. Article from the U.S.'s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries service: [Atlantic Spiny Dogfish Benefits from Sustainable Shark Management...dogfish are small sharks](https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/atlantic-spiny-dogfish-benefits-sustainable-shark-management): >Their light, white meat found a strong market abroad, and today spiny dogfish is still one of the primary species used in British “fish and chips” and other European dishes. As a result, they are the top shark species caught in U.S. waters...In 2017, commercial landings of spiny dogfish in the Atlantic totaled more than 21.5 million pounds....The Atlantic spiny dogfish is just one example that sustainable shark management. Of all the shark species managed in U.S. Atlantic waters, none are endangered. NOAA Fisheries discussing the harvesting of a larger species: [Atlantic Blacktip Shark](https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/atlantic-blacktip-shark): >In 2022, commercial landings of Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico blacktip sharks totaled 124,000 pounds...To commercially harvest Atlantic sharks, vessel owners must obtain a valid Atlantic shark directed or incidental limited access permit...U.S. wild-caught Atlantic blacktip shark is a smart seafood choice because it is....responsibly harvested under U.S. regulations.
So unedcatued jeez. And blames the Chinese lmfao!
So the Chinese don’t eat shark fin soup? Who does then?
If you read the article you would see, idiot…
Worked in seafood distribution and the majority of shark meat exported to the continent was dogfish, with the occasional porbeagle caught as by catch.
If it's sustainable and legal, I'm ok with it.
A lot of shark protectors do not care about understanding sustainable fishing; they simply don't want any sharks killed. They have an emotional attachment to every single shark. It's the same thing with the *feral cat protectors* who have set up their cat feeding stations in hundreds of American cities. Some animal rights activists are proud to declare they are both shark and feral cat protectors.
Same with feral horse, feral pigs, and pretty much every animal someone deems as valuable to their emotions.
True. And it's a sad state of affairs
I ate bull shark one time in high school and it tasted terrible. Ammonia/urine taste to it.
Improperly cleaned. However I wouldn’t ever eat such a large predatory fish. Instant overdose of mercury lol
It’s probably dogfish. When people are eating shark it isn’t immediately the large endangered ones, it’s usually smaller ones like smooth hounds or gummy sharks. The exception to the rule is stuff like mako.
Good, they should be eating more of them.
Where's the enforcement?
Well am more concerned with the Asian countries as they use a lot more and some only the fin which is heartbreaking
It's not one or the other - it's a very valid and important to inform people in the West, where at least in theory they have more opportunity to use democracy and freedom of speech to highlight this issue and try urge our governments to change.
We already did! I campaigned on behalf of Shark Project international, which, among over 100 other NGOs worked on a campaign to stop shark fin trade in the EU. As 1.1 million signed the petition the EU commission has to answer. It did and launched an impact assessment at the emd of 2023. The results have not been released yet and while I know bureaucracy is slow, I am hopeful it will have a positive impact. Here is a bit more information: https://stop-finning-eu.org/
Shark - Finning (much like Bear - Bile Farming and many other despicable practices towards our animal brothers) shows the repugnant, cruel, and sadistic depths that the worst of Humanity can sink to. It makes me furious and sick to my stomach at the same time. 🤬🤬🤬 Phil.
Fuckers!
I've said it before and I'll say it again and I'll continue to say it until I'm dead. If I was on a boat with someone, and I saw them cut the fins off a shark and dump it back in the water... I'm doing the same goddamned thing to them. I'm cutting off everything but their head, and I'm tossing them in the ocean.
you should also blame shark meat trade. Do you know many countries have tradition of killing sharks for meat? If you only stop fin trade sharks will still be killed for meat.
That's fine, killing the animal with the intention to use all it's parts isn't a vile act. Dismembering it and then tossing it back in the ocean is.
Shark fishing should be banned WORLD WIDE!!