In 2013, the then Community Fisheries Commissioner, Maria Damanaki, blurted out to a Spanish negotiator: 'Ah, but can sharks be eaten?' Well yes, sharks eat each other, he replied. Damanaki's surprise illustrates the ignorance that exists in relation to the consumption of these cartilaginous fish. All this occurs while with certain periodicity reports are known that alert about the precarious state of conservation of some of the shark populations.
The most important shark consumption in Spain is blue or blue shark (more than 90% of the total) and shortfin mako (5%), but dogfish is also consumed, which is part of traditional Andalusian cuisine, or musola, that is eaten in the popular stew in the Valencian Community.
Smaller sharks have also been traded in smaller quantities (spotfish or galludo) that are sold as dogfish, although in reality they are not, since the dogfish fishery is practically on the verge of extinction.
In recent years, the presence of the blue shark and mako shark has become relatively frequent in the frozen sections of supermarkets and large distribution brands, where it appears cut into slices with an appearance similar to that of the emperor. Blue shark meat is also sold in frozen preparations (fideuá…) and other products, and is served on menus in restaurants.
The blue shark is also marketed as caella or quenlla, which creates some confusion for the consumer. All this consumption is more deeply rooted in Andalusia and the Levantine regions.
The fact that the blue shark is a white, boneless and cheap fish explains its success in the market. In addition, "it has a high vitamin content, it is good for the defenses, it is good for those with a delicate stomach, and children love it," explains Javier Garat, general secretary of the Spanish Fisheries Confederation (Cepesca), which undoes of praise for this fish.
The Spanish fleet commands these blue shark fisheries worldwide along with Hong Kong.
The consumption of fresh blue shark in Spain is estimated at 1,500 t, while the total catches of the Spanish fleet amount to about 40,000 t (plus about 2,000 t of dogfish), according to Cepesca.
These sharks have become commercial species as a result of the regulations that other species have suffered, explains Àlex Bartolí, a biologist and fisheries consultant. “Before, sharks were caught by accident.
But the restrictions on tuna or emperor fish led the sector to supplement the catches by catching sharks. It was seen that fishing them was quite profitable. And so they began to capture sharks in a directed way, and not as something accidental”, says Bartolí.
As other stocks have been overexploited, such as tuna or swordfish, fishing has been directed towards this species, says Ricardo Aguilar, from Oceana.
Meanwhile, numerous voices have launched the alert; they fear the overexploitation of the blue shark. "The element of greatest risk is due to the fact that sharks have very low reproduction rates compared to other fish," adds Bartolí.
The blue shark (Prionace glauca) is considered an abundant and resistant species, but it accounts for 60% of reported shark catches. The growing trade in meat and fins raises fears that it will follow the same path as the thresher or hammerhead shark, whose populations have fallen by 90%.
In 2019, 189,783 tons of blue sharks, some 7 million specimens, were legally caught and landed worldwide, according to a report by Oceana with data from FAO and regional fisheries organizations.
“The real trade of this species is much higher than what the fishing States report; the decline of this population is greater than what these catches should reflect” says Ricardo Aguilar.
All this supposes a flow of 411 million dollars a year. The blue shark contributes 41% of the shark fin trade and 36% of the world trade in shark meat.
The general secretary of the Cepesca association maintains that "the blue shark is in good condition throughout the world", although he accepts that catches be regulated to avoid their overexploitation.
In fact, measures have already had to be taken in this regard to limit shark catches. Mako fishing is subject to a two-year moratorium in the North Atlantic (which ends at the end of 2023), as agreed by the body that manages tuna and related fishing (ICCAT).
In addition, this same regional fishing organization has set some limits on blue shark fishing in the Atlantic. However, all this does not prevent these two species from being caught in other seas (Pacific or Indian), where there is a lack of regulation to protect them, according to Oceana's demands.
For years, ICCAT did not set fishing quotas for sharks (because they were not a target species), and finally, when it did, it was too late. The thresher shark or the hammerhead shark have ceased to be fished when their decline already exceeds 90% while in the Mediterranean the decrease of the blue shark is 96%-
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) points out that sharks are in decline; globally, it describes the situation of the blue shark as "near threatened" while in the Mediterranean it is "critically endangered".
The Shark Med Foundation has recorded the suffering of blue sharks in the waters of the Balearic Islands, where "half of the specimens caught appear with hooks stuck", explains Agustí Torres, president of this entity. The images even show how the animals drag the line with which they were caught.
The measures to set fishing quotas and limits have been surrounded by controversies and disagreements between fishing employers and environmental groups; and the same discrepancies have arisen about the need or not to regulate this trade.
In this sense, the last major clash occurred last November, when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora included the blue shark in Appendix II of this agreement (Cites). This means that to market (import and export) this fishery, a CITES certificate is needed, which must be granted by the scientific authority of this body (in Spain the Ministry for Ecological Transition).
Cepesca predicts that when this regulation enters into force at the end of the year "the tremendous administrative chaos will be accentuated with high economic costs for the sector". Garet refers to the problems that the supervision of CITES has already caused to the mako trade...
In March 2021, Cites prohibited the landing of 90 tons of shortfin mako in Galician ports, invoking the precarious state of conservation of this species while the shipowners had a fishing quota to capture it, granted by the fisheries regulatory body (ICCAT).
A great example of the scuffles that regulate the shark trade or that we stop eating it.
