Fishing fraud in the Mediterranean

Disguised sale of shark meat - 20th July 2020

Depleted fish stocks have led to sharks and rays being sold to unsuspecting customers as swordfish or tuna, threatening the delicate Mediterranean ecosystem.

Numbers of sharks used to be so high that local authorities paid fishermen to hunt them, but now these waters have become a treacherous habitat for the predators. As fishermen are urged to catch higher numbers of precious species like tuna and swordfish, some shark breeds are being deliberately targeted by crews needing to supplement their income.

In the past, sharks caught as by-catch, netted unintentionally, would be cast back into the sea but now, cut-price shark meat is finding its way to restaurants and market stalls. Oblivious to what they’re being sold or fed, customers across Europe are consuming shark hidden in stews and mixed fried fish. In some cases, shark meat is being illegally marketed as more expensive species, like swordfish which is worth up to 12 times as much.

A study by the University of Catania found that 15% of the swordfish samples it analysed had traces of other seafood present. Aside from being illegal, this fraud exposes consumers to health risks, as many shark species contain levels of mercury and other metals that are well above safe legal limits.

Sharks are slow-growing, late to mature and produce few young, so overfishing is liable to destroy supplies that then fail to regenerate. Today, more than half of the 73 species of sharks and rays found in the Mediterranean are at risk of extinction. As sharks are top predators, their demise could have an unpredictable effect on the ecosystem.

Tighter controls are being called for in an area of the planet that is largely unmanaged, leading to an out of sight, out of mind attitude towards fisheries.