Sharks are charismatic megafauna demonized and celebrated worldwide. To marine scientists they are a key apex predator that structures pelagic marine ecosystems and keeps them healthy. Overharvesting and illegal fishing of sharks has caused catastrophic harm to marine ecosystems (Ferretti et al. 2010).
Shark finning is one of the most wasteful and cruel assaults on sharks. After catching a shark, the fins are cut off while the animal is still alive and the wounded animal in tossed back to the sea. Unable to swim, they are either eaten or die of suffocation.
It is estimated that over 100 million sharks a year are killed by finning (Ferretti et al. 2010). The IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Shark Specialist Group say that "the rapidly expanding and largely unregulated shark fin trade represents one of the most serious threats to shark populations worldwide”.
Shark finning is incredibly wasteful and profitable. Vessels can harvest more sharks as the fin is the most profitable part. Shark meat is bulky, difficult to store, and less profitable. Shark fins are sold for ~US$ 600/kg or more. The total global value of the shark fin trade exceeds US$ 1 billion a year.
Shark finning is prohibited by law in many countries. China, the EU, USA and Brazil all require the whole shark to be brought to landing ports. But there is a great amount of illegal fishing, and much corruption around the trade in shark fins. For example, since 2003 finning is banned on all vessels fishing in EU waters. However, Spain, France and Portugal as some of the largest shark fishing countries in the world have been known to participate in the global shark fin trade. In 2023, Brazilian fisheries authorities seized ~30,000 kg of shark fins in what was reported to be one of the world's largest-ever confiscations of shark fins (Price 2023).
The demand for shark fins is booming in Asia and Asian communities worldwide as millions of people have gained middle class or higher economic status and can now afford such luxuries as shark fin soup and expensive traditional medicines. Trivedi (2002) quoted M. Shivji a U.S.-based conservation geneticist, "Anywhere there is a large Chinese population there is a demand for shark-fin soup…In Chinatowns in New York, San Francisco, and Vancouver, for example, you can find packaged shark fin in many stores." Buyers in these markets, where finning is prohibited, have been known to purchase whale shark and basking shark fins at US$10,000-20,000 a fin.
Fin soup substitutes are available.
A product called “Faux Fin” is sold. It is cultured in bioreactors with an algal-based nutrient medium.
And now…drum roll…for another example of restorative aquaculture. Tilapia aquaculture comes to the rescue of sharks!
Kouhu Fisheries Cooperative, Taiwan, makes farmed tilapia fins into “shark fins”.
If you’ve ever tasted it, and yes, full disclosure here, I have, in China, shark fin soup has very little flavor, but is “chewy”, which consumers seem to enjoy. I didn't.
Tilapia fins are like shark fins in that they are mainly cartilage. They are flavorless, but chewy. Shredded tilapia tail fins closely resemble shark fins in appearance and texture. The Taiwanese Cooperative sells shredded tilapia fins at ~US$ 120/kg, expensive, but far below the cost of shark fins. The Cooperative has a growing market demand and has >200 fish farms in three southern Taiwan counties with a pond area of ~2000 ha (~25% of Taiwan’s total tilapia farming area). The Cooperative is HAACP-certified and is compliant with EU food standards on traceability.
Shark fin soup is considered a cultural icon favored by the wealthy and reserved for special occasions. Culturally, shark fins are believed by some to boost virility. Hopefully these men have replacement technological or other means to find now, and that the world can replace this primitive, meaningless and wasteful slaughter with lab-based meats and sustainable aquaculture.
Is shark fin soup healthy? Nope. There are high levels of mercury in sharks. Farmed tilapia fins contain no heavy metals.
IUCN in its guidelines for "Nature-based Solutions” and the TNC “Global Principles of Restorative Aquaculture” define restorative aquaculture as: “occurring when commercial or subsistence aquaculture provides direct ecological benefits to the environment, with the potential to generate net positive environmental outcomes.”
A widely farmed fish can save millions of sharks.
References
Faux Fin. https://thefuturemarket.com/faux-fin
Ferretti, F. et al. 2010. Patterns and ecosystem consequences of shark declines in the ocean. Ecology Letters, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01489.x
Infofish International. 2012. July: 73.
IUCN Shark Specialist Group
Price, K. 2023. Live Science, June 22, 2023 https://www.livescience.com/animals/sharks/record-breaking-63300-pounds-of-illegal-shark-fins-seized-in-brazil
Trivedi, B. 20020. Shark-Soup Boom Spurs Conservationist DNA Study. National Geographic Today, September 17, 2002. https://web.archive.org/web/20020918100156/http:/news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/09/0917_020917_sharks.html
