Sharks In Peril: Latin America & The Caribbean’s Role In The Shark Fin Trade Pushing Species Towards Extinction

According to a new report released by IFAW, the Latin American region is a consistent source of shark fin products, meeting the overwhelming demand in Asian markets. However, in a surprising twist, an analysis of 17 years of customs trade data also reveals that the region is the main consumer of shark meat exported from Asian trade hubs.

The report, Meat on the menu and fins for exports: Latin America’s shark trade with Asia, reviews shark trade data from countries across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region, as reported by Asian trade hubs, including Hong Kong SAR, Taiwan province, and Singapore. The analysis aims to help governments in the LAC region enhance their capacities to understand, monitor, and regulate the shark trade.

“Global demand for shark products has exploded in recent decades pushing many sharks to the brink of extinction,” said Barbara Slee, senior program manager at IFAW. “Mapping trade flows and weeding out discrepancies will help build a clearer picture of the global shark trade so that these countries can better protect them. Sharks are essential to a healthy ocean ecosystem – but they are in troubled waters.”

Different regions play an active role in the global shark trade, supplying Asian markets with shark fins, receiving shark meat for domestic consumption, facilitating the transit of export, or by profiting through international fishing fleets.

Between 2003–2020, the LAC region received 58% of total shark meat exports from Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, and Taiwan province. Uruguay, Brazil, and Mexico are the top destinations for shark fins; the three countries alone account for nearly all the shark meat flowing into Latin America.

The LAC region is also a consistent source of shark fin products for the Asian trade hubs. A staggering total of 188,369 metric tons of shark fin products were imported into the Asian trade hubs between 2003-2020, of which approximately 30,000 metric tons (16%) originating from the LAC region. Costa Rica was the largest supplier, followed by Peru, Uruguay, and Mexico.

The analysis also reveals alarming discrepancies in trade data. For example, the figure for Hong Kong SAR’s imports of shark products from Peru was more than one hundred times greater than Peru’s reported exports.

“Given the global scale of shark trade, and the multitude of trading partners, countries/territories need to proactively work together to share data, standardize reporting formats, and improve the quality of the data collected,” said Stan Shea from BLOOM Association, co-author of the report. “This is required to bring the level of transparency and traceability to where it needs to be for a trade as complex and potentially detrimental as the shark trade.”

In 2022, member governments of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) voted to give an additional 97 shark species greater protection via an Appendix II listing. Together with already listed species, more than 90% of the global fin trade is now under CITES control. To avoid CITES sanctions, including potential trade suspensions, the report recommends that countries must rapidly improve their efforts to control the shark trade, improve data recording and analysis, strengthen cooperation between key trading partners, and clamp down on illegal trade.

The report’s launch came ahead of a key CITES meeting in Geneva, that took place July 12-19, which examined concerns around the sustainability of shark trade by several CITES member governments. At a meeting of the CITES Standing Committee in November, governments sanctioned Ecuador for its failure to control shark trade.