On the endangered list – because of greed for £170-per-lb soup

Published on Sunday 17 February 2008 20:54

ONE of the world's most recognisable sharks has been added to the official endangered species list and could soon be heading towards extinction.

The scalloped hammerhead, so called because of its extraordinary hammer-shaped snout, has starred in countless diving movies and marine documentaries.

But like other sharks, it has fallen victim to fishing by-catch and the high value placed on its fins, which are considered a delicacy in China.

Later this year the scalloped hammerhead will be placed on the World Conservation Union's Red List of threatened species under the heading "globally endangered". The category is only one step below the highest rating of "critically endangered".

Scientists have seen numbers of the creature, which grows up to four metres long and is the best known hammerhead species, dwindle alarmingly in some parts of the world.

Declines of 98 per cent have been recorded off the US east coast since the 1970s, and losses of 90 per cent in other areas.

Unlike most other sharks, the scalloped hammerhead swims in large schools which tend to congregate in specific locations, such as the Galapagos Islands and Costa Rica. A fishing vessel stumbling upon one of these gatherings can easily wipe out the whole school.

Experts say the fate of the scalloped hammerhead reflects a looming crisis for many of the oceans' top predators. A total of 233 types of shark are currently on the Red List, 12 of which are considered "critically endangered".

Nine, including the scalloped hammerhead, have joined or will be joining this year.

Among them are some well known species, such as the common thresher, the shortfin mako, and the tiger and bull shark.

Marine ecologist Dr Julia Baum, from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, who has studied the "threat status" of the world's sharks, said:

"Right now, the oceans are being emptied of sharks. If we carry on the way we're going we'll be looking at a very high risk of extinction for some of these shark species in the next few decades."

Sharks are not only caught accidentally on long lines laid out for tuna and swordfish, or swept up by bottom trawlers, but also deliberately targeted – largely to satisfy the increasing appetite for shark-fin soup in China.

Once the dish was considered an extravagant treat, but in the last two decades the growth of China's middle class has seen demand for the "delicacy" soar.

Shark fins are lucrative for fishermen, fetching up to 170 a pound, said Dr Baum. The fins of the scalloped hammerhead are especially prized.

"Between 26 and 73 million sharks go through the Hong Kong food market each year," Dr Baum added. "That's three to four times the number of shark catches reported to the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation, which collects fishing statistics. Clearly, shark catches are being underestimated."

Sharks were being targeted by increasing numbers of European fishing fleets, she said. Two-thirds of Spain's open-ocean fishing boats hunt shark.

Shark fishing in international waters is currently unrestricted. Dr Baum and other experts want to see urgent action to limit shark catches and ban "finning" – the practice of stripping a shark of its fins and dumping its body back in the sea.