Some U.S. stores are selling illicit meat from endangered sharks under false or misleading labels, an investigation finds.
“The legality of selling shark meat in the United States depends largely on where the shark was harvested and the species involved,” said Savannah Ryburn, a marine ecologist who led the investigation while at the University of North Carolina. “However, by the time large shark species reach grocery stores and markets, they are often sold as fillets with all distinguishing features removed, making it unlikely that sellers know what species they are offering.”
For the analysis, researchers bought 19 shark steaks and 11 packs of shark jerky in stores and online in North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and Washington, D.C. They then analyzed the DNA from the meat to determine the species of each shark.
Researchers were able to identify the species in 29 samples, of which 9 contained meat from endangered sharks, including critically endangered great hammerhead and scalloped hammerhead sharks. Several other samples contained meat from vulnerable species, such as the spinner, common thresher, and blacktip shark. Only one sample came from a species of least concern, an Atlantic sharpnose shark. The findings were published in Frontiers in Marine Science.
Since 1970, the number of sharks and rays found in the open ocean has declined by a staggering 71 percent, and demand for shark meat is a key driver of the decline. In the U.S., researchers found, fresh shark meat can be bought at remarkably low prices, selling for as little as around $6 a pound.
Said Ryburn, “Sellers in the United States should be required to provide species-specific names, and when shark meat is not a food security necessity, consumers should avoid purchasing products that lack species-level labeling or traceable sourcing.”
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