Shark Products
Over 100 million sharks are killed annually. Partly because of their fins for shark fish fin soup, as bycatch in up to 40 miles long drift nets of enormous fishing fleets, for medically completely ineffective cartilage powder or by the destruction of their habitats.
You will find shark products often at unexpected places as in restaurants, snack bars or supermarkets. Shark meat is offered also under various other names as Smoked Rock Salmon, Smoked Dogfish, a component of Fish & Chips or Imitation Crab Meat (Surimi). Also the worldwide protected and extremely threatened whale shark is on the Asian market (mainly Taiwan and Japan) still offered as Tofu Shark.
Besides the British the Germans consume most spiny dogfish. They produce the so-called “Schillerlocken” out of the sharks belly. The British use the spiny dogfish for “Fish & Chips “. This kind of shark is strongly overfished and its existence in the Northeast Atlantic decreased in the last 40 years by 90 percent.
Principal customers for shark fins are mainly eastern cultures in which shark fin soup represents a cultural meal. It is a remarkable fact that a shark fin, which consists to 90% out of cartilage, is extensively tasteless and only after days of boiling up in a broth becomes soft and gets the taste of the broth. Today shark fin soup is a status symbol because of the strongly risen prices within the last few years.
We can find shark products also in dog fodder, fish flour and even in fertilizers. From shark skin leather products such as purses, shoes or clock bracelets are produced.
Shark liver oil is frequently a component of the well-known cod-liver oil. In the health sector shark cartilage powders is marketed as fit making food additive although shark cartilages contains absolutely no fit making or other wholesome ingredients.
Most problematic is the marketing of shark cartilage as an anti-cancer means. The publication “Cancer Research” published in December 2004 confirms that shark cartilage preparations showed absolutely no effect against cancer.
However in the gel sector (food/pharmacy) shark collagen has few market chances although particularly Spain tries to penetrate into the market with shark collagen. Spain, one of the world largest shark fin producer, has 2002 forbidden to bring only the fins of sharks ashore. According to law the whole shark bodies must be brought now ashore. This leads now ridiculous-proves to the fact that out of the bodies the completely ineffective cartilage powder is made perforce.
In the cosmetics sector from shark cartilage won collagen is used for anti-fold creams and other preparations. Collagen from sharks is free of BSE and more kosher which makes it interesting for the Arab and Israeli markets.
Filed under Save Sharks · Tagged with age, amp, Asia, asian, Atlantic, belly, British, broth, BSE, bycatch, Cancer, car, cartilage, cartilage powder, catch, cent, chance, clock, Co, cod liver oil, cod-liver, collagen, component, Crab, customer, day, December, decrease, destruction, dog, Dogfish, drift, drift nets, ear, eastern cultures, effect, EST, existence, fact, fin, fin soup, fins, fish, fish flour, fishing, fishing fleet, fishing fleets, fit, fleet, flour, fodder, food, force, gel, habitat, health, Imitation, imitation crab meat, Japan, kind, kosher, law, leather, liver, liver oil, market, marketing, meal, mean, meat, North, Northeast Atlantic, offer, oil, part, percent, perforce, pharmacy, place, powder, Principal, principal customers, producer, product, protect, public, publication, rat, rate, ratio, Red, research, rest, rise, Rock Salmon, Schillerlocken, sea, sector, shark, shark cartilage, shark fin soup, shark fins, shark fish, shark liver oil, shark meat, Shark Products, Sharks, side, skin, Smoked, snack, snack bars, soup, Spain, spiny, spiny dogfish, status, Surimi, symbol, Taiwan, taste, Tens, threat, Threatened, today, Tofu, US, use, Whale, whale shark, wholesome ingredients, Wide, With, world, world largest shark fin producer, worldwide, year
