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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/07/brazil-fishing-shark-meat-trade-threat-species-marine-conservation>
"The bright blue skies and calm waters of the estuary belie rough conditions at
sea, and there is no sign of activity among the colourful fishing boats moored
around the harbour of Cananéia, a sleepy fishing town 160 miles south of São
Paulo.
On the wharf, however, a delivery of frozen fish from Uruguay has just arrived
and a few men in white gumboots are busy unloading pallets of beheaded
specimens labelled
Galeorhinus galeus – school shark.
These thin grey fish will be kept in a cold store on shelves already stacked
ceiling-high with carcasses of blue sharks, all awaiting processing and
distribution to cities inland.
“Why do we work with shark?” says Helgo Muller, 53, the company manager.
“Because people like it; it’s good and cheap protein. It doesn’t give you crazy
profits, but it’s decent enough.”
Shark is just a small fraction of the firm’s business but they process about 10
tonnes a month, he says, mostly blue shark imported from countries including
Costa Rica, Uruguay, China and Spain.
Communities up and down Brazil’s 4,600-mile (7,400km) coastline have always
eaten sharks. “It is part of our tradition,” says Lucas Gabriel Jesus Silva, a
27-year-old whose grandfather moved to the area in the 1960s to fish sharks for
their fins.
However, the widespread appetite for shark meat that Muller’s company helps
feed is now troubling scientists and environmentalists, who worry about
unsustainable pressure on various species.
Demand has made Brazil the top importer and one of the biggest consumers of
shark meat in a global market worth an estimated $2.6bn (£2bn).
“Sharks are very vulnerable to overexploitation as they don’t reproduce as
often or with as many offspring as bony fishes do,” explains Prof Aaron
MacNeil, of Canada’s Dalhousie University.
Research published in April found that 83% of the shark and ray species sold in
Brazil were threatened, according to the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classification."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
