We probably all know that sharks everywhere in the world are doomed. The reality in Brazil is not different: numbers are falling dramatically and most elasmobranch species are facing the risk of extinction. As in most parts of the world, they're being fished for their fins to feed the lucrative asian market. However, there's a spin-off happening in Brazil that is quite unique in the world.

A reasonable number of Brazilians eat shark meat as part of their diet. Long before the shark fin industry thrived, even before shark populations were in such extinction path, people were eating shark meat on certain occasions. With their meat, some traditional Brazilian recipes are made, mainly "moqueca" in coastal towns. Sharks are called "cação" at supermarkets* and nowadays it's one of the cheapest kind of seafood available. Last year, in a street market in São Paulo close to where I used to live, 1kg of shark meat was on average 5 dollars - can be even cheaper in coastal areas.

Finning is prohibited [pdf link in Portuguese] by Brazilian law - if we consider the definition of "finning" as taking the fins out and throwing the shark carcass back into the ocean (although, even prohibited, it still happens). The law has an interesting twist though: it does not allow any boat to land more than 5% of fin net weight compared to the number of carcasses. In reality what this specific sentence means is that fishermen can fish sharks and take their fins as long as they disembark the carcasses with them. Since the population eats the shark meat here anyway (so the shark itself is also a reasonable source of revenue), even if all sharks are finned, if all fins are sent to the target market (Asia in general), this 5% value is never reached. In conclusion, finning as defined above and understood by the law does not exist, but it happens disguised by a loophole in the law that ends up accommodating the "culture" of eating shark meat.

However, eating shark meat was somehow a sustainable situation before the shark fin industry arrived. Sharks were then one amongst other fishes caught in artisan nets. After the fin market flourished, supermarkets were overloaded with shark meat. The meat turned into a byproduct of the fin industry, a left-over they had to get rid off in order to comply with legislation to keep doing their finning business. (Brazilian coast is also depleted of most commercial fishes by extensive exploitation, as elsewhere in the world, which does not help to discourage the fin business). The loophole in the law helped dropping the price of shark meat. In fact, shark meat is now sadly part of school meal menu in most cities: since funding for school meal is very limited, the pressure for choosing the cheapest source of protein is high.

All this to explain that to stop shark fisheries in Brazil is quite a unique challenge. Even though cultural issues can be overcome by raising awareness of shark's sharp population drop through public campaigns and education, the fact remains that shark meat is the most economically convenient choice for the low-income population (the majority in Brazil, I must say) as a protein source in their diets. It turns the issue almost in a lost battle. In addition, the absence of a law that really bans shark finning, fishing and trading jeopardizes shark survival. Without a change in the law (and subsequent law enforcement) it will be hard to avoid extinction for most species that swim around our huge coastline.

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*"Cação" in general refers to the shark meat, very small sharks or shark pups. The adult animal itself is called "tubarão". Most people, though, mistakenly think that the "cação" on the supermarket shelf is not a shark, believing they are buying a different kind of fish. That alone is an incredible barrier to be dealt with.

- There's a Brazilian NGO dedicated to protect and raise awareness of shark issues called Instituto Aqualung. One of their projects at this moment involves surveying markets around the country to find out public perspective of sharks, prices and most common shark species sold and how often they are on people's meal.

- Aos meus amigos leitores: este post está em inglês porque foi submetido ao Carnival of the Blue do dia dos Oceanos, organizado pela blogosfera gringa e hospedado nesta edição no blog Blogfish. Mas a maior parte do texto é baseado neste post antigo que vocês já leram aqui no bat-blog.