Q: Beyond shark fin soup, where else are shark products hiding?
A: Can you imagine walking into a Toronto restaurant or health store and ordering whale soup or supplements? Well, there was a time when whale fat was de rigueur in everything from lamps and lube to lipstick, until it became so culturally reprehensible (and illegal) that the thought of it now turns stomachs.
By the looks of it, shark seems to be ramping up to its whale of a turning of point in this country. Grassroots momentum is building as Toronto council sits poised on Monday (October 24) to join Mississauga, Oakville, Branford, California and Hawaii in ousting shark fin products from our turf.
Next stop: Parliament Hill. The NDP is about to table a bill calling for an import ban of shark fins. Call or email your MP and tell him or her that Canadians want this to happen.
And show your support for a provincial ban by signing the petition at change.org/petitions/tell-canada-go-shark-fin-free and passing it along to friends.
The ecologically devastating reality is that up to 73 million sharks are killed every year around the globe, and über-profitable shark finning happens to be the main driver behind those deaths. (Just rent Sharkwater if you need to see evidence.) But it’s certainly not the only pressure on this seriously depleted species.
So where else are shark products lurking? Happily, a cosmetic ingredient called squalene is no longer commonly made of shark liver oil in North American beauty products, but unless your brand says its squalene is vegetable-based, always ask before you buy.
You will, however, find shark squalene in some vaccines. It’s big in flu vaccines across the pond, and GlaxoSmithKline alone used the stuff for 440 million doses of swine flu vaccines in 2009. It says it’s still looking for alternatives.
You’ll find shark products even more readily in most every health food store. Brands like Swiss, Now, Organika, Sisu and Bell make a mint off shark cartilage and shark liver oil. (They can also be sold under trademarked names like Carticin, Cartilade, BeneFin and Neovastat.)
Look, I know some of you are attached to your shark-based remedies, and, yes, like other forms of chondroitin, they can help ease arthritis. (Anti-cancer claims, on the other hand, are a total sham companies have been fined for fraudulently making such claims.)
But listen, we’ve got to consider the bigger picture. Can you imagine buying supplements made of wild elephant ivory to treat your aches and pains? There are a ton of other great supplements out there for what ails you, but there aren’t plenty more big fish in the sea.
Some brands, like Bell Lifestyle Products, argue their cartilage comes from by-products of the food/restaurant industry, not from sharks illegally finned. But these days, every major grocery in Greenpeace’s seafood report card, including Loblaws, Sobeys and Metro, has banned shark meat from its fish counter because of serious sustainability worries. Even those fisherfolk who use the whole shark for steaks and supplements are feeding the beast when they sell their fins off, too.
And just so you know, shark liver oil is seriously tainted with pollutants. Health Canada tests on fish oils found the highest levels of DDT, PCBs and other contaminants in shark oil.
Good news: many health stores, including Whole Foods Market and Nutrition House, have stopped carrying shark supplements, and several brands, including Natural Factors, Holista and Solgar, have stopped making shark cartilage products altogether. Now, if we can just convince the rest of them. While we’re on the topic, why don’t you send Swiss and Organika an email asking them to stop selling shark products (info@swissnatural.com, orginfo@organika.com) and call Now Foods to do the same (1-888-669-3663).
By the way, there’s yet another way sharks are getting killed en masse, and that’s as accidental by-catch in tuna nets and longlines. The dead sharks are either tossed overboard whole or, in illegal tuna fisheries, they’re finned first and those fins are sold on the sly.
Greenpeace Ocean campaigner Sarah King says the org has found hidden bags of shark fins tucked into on-board freezers. The only way you can guarantee your tuna sandwich hasn’t been rubbing shoulders with dead sharks is to buy from companies using more sustainable practices like Raincoast Trading and Wild Planet.
Now go on and sign some petitions so we can create a tsunami of support for shark bans.
Got a question?
Send your green queries to ecoholic@nowtoronto.com
