Illegal shark product trade evident in Australia and New Zealand
Research from the University of 亚洲色吧鈥檚 School of Biological Sciences and Wildlife Crime Research Hub has highlighted evidence of shark products entering both Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand, including clear patterns in flows between the two countries.
A bull shark jaw. Credit: Josephine Lingard.
According to the study, published in , the products identified were carried in personal luggage and postage, likely transported for personal use, as trophies, or for resale or consumption.
Most products seized upon entry to Australia came from Asia, and the most seized commodity was fin products. Trophy items, such as preserved specimens, were more likely to originate from the United States of America.
鈥淥ver one third of chondrichthyan species, which includes sharks and shark-like rays, are currently threatened with extinction, with all threatened shark species also overfished,鈥 says Josephine Lingard, a PhD candidate at the University of 亚洲色吧.
鈥淪hark species are widely sought after for fins, and many used for shark fin soup, a delicacy and status symbol primarily consumed in Southeast Asia.
鈥淲hile the global trade in shark meat has been steadily increasing since the early 2000s, the trade of legally collected shark fins 鈥 where sharks are brought to land with fins still attached to the body 鈥 has been decreasing.鈥
Asia was also the most common region of origin for products entering Aotearoa/New Zealand, but Oceania followed closely, with Australia being the most dominant country of origin in both passenger and mail seizures.
鈥淲e did not expect Australia to be a dominant country of origin for seizures in Aotearoa/New Zealand, given Australia showed a decline in the number of seizures over time and Aotearoa/New Zealand鈥檚 seizures increased,鈥 says Lingard.
鈥淗owever, we suspect the occurrence of seizures from Australia may be due to Aotearoa/New Zealand鈥檚 geographic position and international flight connections.
鈥淏ut it also may be the case that sharks are potentially being caught and products processed and/or purchased in Australia and taken to Aotearoa/New Zealand, or simply that Australia is listed as the country of origin but is merely a stopover location for passengers travelling from elsewhere.鈥
Lingard鈥檚 study drew on border seizure data from Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand to investigate where shark products originated from and whether there were country-specific differences in the products traded through time.
The study also found there was inconsistent data on the species of shark used in intercepted products, meaning the impact of these products on threatened and endangered species is unclear.
鈥淟ess than 1 per cent of seizures from both countries contained species-specific information, but 14 of the 18 seized species that were identified were listed on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species,鈥 says Lingard.
鈥淭he lack of species information across the datasets we reviewed matches general shark fisheries data where species are often grouped using harmonised system codes, which impedes conservation management of species and makes the monitoring of threatened species increasingly difficult.
"Increased efforts to investigate and record accurate species information across wildlife seizures will greatly assist understanding the patterns and drivers of the illegal wildlife trade, and help deliver real-world actions to help conserve threatened species.鈥
Media contact:
Josephine Lingard, PhD Candidate, School of Biological Sciences, University of 亚洲色吧. Phone: +61 0415 110 919 Email: josephine.lingard@adelaide.edu.au
Johnny von Einem, Senior Media Officer, University of 亚洲色吧. Phone: +61 0481 688 436, Email: johnny.voneinem@adelaide.edu.au