Commentary 22/11/29 Shark depletion should spur Church to swim against tide

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Shark depletion should spur Church to swim against tide

The Church in Asian countries has to find prudent ways to give sharks a chance amid rising demand for shark fin

A shark for sale at a traditional market in Tanjung Luar in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, on Nov. 9, 2014. (Photo: AFP)

By Ben Joseph

Published: November 29, 2022 11:48 AM GMT

Although sharks do not evoke the same cuddly feelings as dolphins and seals, they are the apex predators who keep marine eco balance intact.

The booming Asian appetite for shark fin soup is driving the depletion of shark species.

However, the tide is turning against Asia, which will be forced to part with its fondness for the centuries-old prized dish because ever more Asians can now afford its astronomical price. 

In April 2020, the Hong Kong customs agency was instrumental in one of the largest seizures of shark fins in history — 26 metric tons, equivalent to an estimated 38,500 sharks, all threatened species — shipped from Ecuador.

Both the legal and illegal trade in shark fin trade is going on as the demand increases day by day though it is one of most expensive seafood products in the world, costing about US$1,000 a kilogram in Asia — around 81,500 rupees in India, which banned the export of the fins of all sharks on Feb. 6, 2015. But a gray market is operational in the South Asian nation which boasts a vast coastline of over 7,500 kilometers.

Giving the endangered sharks a respite, the 19th conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which ended on Nov. 25 in Panama City, expanded trade norms to halt the sale of shark meat and fins.

Requiem sharks and hammerhead sharks could have a sigh of relief as they are now declared protected by the CITES, which covers 184 nations.

Besides the 19 species that are already covered by the CITES, the new plan marks the first regulatory action to rein in the global trade in sharks, mainly for their fins to make shark fin soup ― an exotic delicacy common in Southeast and East Asian markets.

More than 100 million sharks are fished annually, sending these benevolent predators, which keep other sea species in check, towards extinction and affecting the ocean ecosystems.

Before the new declaration at the world’s biggest wildlife summit, about 25 percent of sharks were protected and now it covers about 70 percent of shark species.

The host nation Panama put forward the proposal, backed by the European Union, which has a strong presence in the shark fin market, and the UK. Japan wanted an amendment to remove 35 shark species, while Peru requested the removal of the blue shark.

Breach of the convention can be punished with the closure of trade in all CITES-listed species.

The requiem shark family comprises the tiger shark, silky shark, and grey reef shark. Along with hammerhead sharks, they constitute well over half of the shark fins traded globally. Due to unsustainable fisheries and the fin trade, more than one-third of the world’s shark species are facing the threat of extinction.

After the fins are sliced from their bodies, sharks are thrown back into the sea, killing them slowly. Shark fins are then processed and dried after key morphological features of shark fins are removed, making identification by visual methods challenging and in some cases impossible, hindering the accurate monitoring of the $500 million trade globally.

Fishing 100 million sharks annually worldwide, the Asian shark fin market is thriving with Singapore as its transshipment hub. Asians’ love of shark fins is growing as consuming them is considered a status symbol at celebratory events. With the older generations, shark fins are known for their medicinal value because they claim to be effective in promoting anti-cancer properties and good at improving general well-being.

Singapore, sourcing shark fins from other shores, is the leading importer and exporter of shark fins, with an average of 2,352 tons imported and 2,067 tons exported each year.

In 2020, Singapore imported 134,000 tons of seafood worth S$760 million with Indonesia and Malaysia as the main sources. Each person in the city-state consumes an average of 22 kg of seafood per year, which is above the global average of 20 kg.

Hong Kong, China and Taiwan are also big-time suppliers of shark fins. More than 50 percent of the global shark fin trade is controlled by Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Last year, over 90 percent of shark fin imports were re-exported from Hong Kong, which is already battling a surge in the illicit trade of shark fins. Hong Kong seized 27.5 tons of legally regulated shark fins in 2021 and 29.5 tons in 2020. In the former UK colony, customers spend an average of HK$2,500 ($320) per catty, which is equal to 605 grams.

With a strong presence, EU countries sell shark fins with Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, France and Italy as prominent players.

Fifty years ago, when modern cutting-edge technology was conspicuous by its absence, 300 kg of seafood could be fished per hour in Thailand. Today, it’s only 18 kg per hour – a life-threatening sign that nearly 50 percent of the world’s fish stocks are in troubled waters.

Of the top 10 nations that consume the most fish, seven of them are Asian and the growing demand for shark fins is outpacing the species’ ability to replenish themselves.

But the demand is set for a slowdown because it will outpace supply by 2030, especially in nations where overfishing is the order of the day.

Definitely, the CITES declaration can persuade wealthy Asians to give up eating endangered species to give some hope to the lone sharks in the sea.

Without these big fangs, always traveling and hunting in gangs, the mass of blue water cannot qualify to be called by its pet name – the Sea.

The Asian Church has to come to the rescue of sharks as wealthy Asians are the prime culprit in making sharks history. The Church in Asian nations – like Indonesia, the world’s biggest archipelagic nation with the longest coastline in Asia, Catholic-majority Philippines, the third longest in Asia and the fifth in the world, China and India also with vast coastlines – has to unveil prudent ways to give sharks a chance.

Maybe the Singapore Church can be the torchbearer of a campaign to save sharks.

*The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.