British chippies are selling unsuspecting customers SHARK and chips, a shocking investigation has revealed
Forget cod and chips: if you've been to a British chippie recently you may have unknowingly eaten shark meat, scientists have revealed.
Despite a global push to curb the shark fin trade, demand for shark meat has only grown, according to a new study.
The scientists say shark is often sold as 'mystery meat' without a label in chip shops and restaurants around the world, including in Britain.
Researchers from Dalhousie University, Canada found that 80 million sharks were killed in 2019, up from 76 million in 2015.
Worryingly, 25 million of the sharks killed that year were from species already threatened with extinction.
Forget cod and chips – if you've been to a British chippie recently you may have unknowingly eaten shark meat, scientists have revealed (stock image)
This map shows the frequency of shark deaths in waters around the world. Dark red areas around South America, Europe, Indonesia and parts of Africa show where shark fishing is most intense
In the study, researchers tracked the fate of 1.1 billion sharks in 150 fishing countries between 2012 and 2019.
During this period, nearly 70 percent of maritime jurisdictions have introduced some form of legislation to protect sharks from fishing.
These measures were mainly aimed at reducing 'finning', where fishermen cut off the fins of live sharks before throwing them back into the water to drown or starve.
Driven by demand for shark fins, which are seen as a luxury food, the practice has pushed some shark species to the brink of extinction.
However, the research shows that these regulations have failed to reduce the number of sharks killed annually.
Shark mortality in offshore fisheries fell by seven percent between 2012 and 2019.
However, in national coastal waters, where most sharks are now caught, deaths have increased by four percent.
The deaths are clustered in a handful of regions, such as the Coral Triangle, which spans Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines.
The researchers found that six countries were responsible for half of all shark deaths, while Indonesia alone was responsible for 19 percent.
Dr. Darcy Bradley, co-author of the paper, said: 'We found that despite numerous regulations designed to reduce shark overfishing, the overall number of sharks killed by fishing each year is not decreasing.
“It's certainly rising slightly.”
This map shows where endangered hammerhead sharks are caught. The red areas on the west coast of Africa show where fishing is most intense
Fining is a practice in which the fins are cut off from live sharks before being dumped overboard to slowly die of starvation or drowning. The fins are then dried under the sun in production centers such as this one in Indonesia
This map shows areas where shark fishing is regulated. Dark blue shows a total ban on shark fishing, beige areas where finning is regulated, and red areas show places where no fishing regulations apply
The research shows that regulations designed to prevent finning have actually encouraged fishermen to find new ways to profit from shark fishing.
No longer able to harvest just the fins, shark fishermen have simply adapted to selling the whole carcass.
As a result, demand for shark meat, cartilage and oil has skyrocketed; ensure increased global trade in shark products.
According to WWF, the value of the shark and ray meat market has skyrocketed from $1.5 billion in 2012 to $2.6 billion in 2019.
Co-author Leonardo Feitosa, a shark biologist from UC Santa Barbara, explained that this has led to shark meat being sold on a much larger scale.
The researchers say shark meat is being sold internationally as a cheap alternative to more expensive species (stock image)
Ms Feitosa said: 'We have seen demand for shark fins decrease and demand for shark meat increase, with Brazil and Italy being the main consumers.
'Because shark meat is a relatively cheap substitute for other fish species, there are significant labeling errors, causing some consumers to eat shark meat without their knowledge.'
Without being labeled as shark, the meat is sold in markets such as Britain as a kind of 'mystery meat', often simply turned into fried 'fish'.
According to a 2019 University of Exeter study, 90 percent of fish and chip takeaways in southern England used shark meat without the customer's knowledge.
Scientists took fifteen samples from sites along the south coast and discovered that ten were spiny dogfish and the other five were smooth hounds.
Dogfish are considered endangered in Europe, and the smooth hound is also considered endangered.
Campaigners have called for clearer labeling of seafood products as it emerged these endangered species were being sold as rock salmon, stone eel and peel.
The global trade in sharks, from fisheries like these in Japan to the rest of the world, continues to push species to the brink of extinction
The researchers say the international trade in shark meat continues to pose a significant threat to the survival of endangered species.
Lead researcher Dr Bois Worm said: 'Too many sharks are dying and this is particularly worrying for endangered species such as hammerhead sharks.'
According to the researchers, more targeted measures and better enforcement are needed to reduce the global trade in shark meat.
In fact, some of the most effective efforts to reduce shark mortality have been led by low-income countries that are highly dependent on a healthy marine environment.
However, the researchers also note that countries with poorer democracy and less oversight have struggled to reduce shark deaths.
The researchers hope to build on these local successes by introducing a ban on indiscriminate fishing and requiring fishermen to release vulnerable species.