February 6, 2017 — Global perceptions about shark consumption are about as divided as U.S. politics. In places like Japan, India, Sri Lanka and certain parts of Africa and Mexico, shark meat is relatively inexpensive and a regular part of the diet. In western countries and many other parts of the world, however, eating sharks is discouraged — and sometimes even banned — because many sharks are threatened with extinction.
It may then come as a surprise that two of the world’s leading shark conservationist groups have just determined that 39 populations representing 33 species of sharks, as well as their relatives — rays and chimaera — meet the criteria for sustainable fishing.
According to the World Commission on Environment and Development, “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
“For too long we have treated sharks as one species,” co-author Nicholas Dulvy of Simon Fraser University told Seeker. “They aren’t one species; there are over 1,200 species of shark, ray and chimaera with a wide range of life histories and ability to support fisheries or otherwise. For too long we have been treating them as one species deserving one magic silver-bullet solution.”