No more shark in UK fish and chips

Spiny dogfish, a fish and chip shop staple sold in Britain for decades, is to disappear from our dinner plates amid concern the rare species of shark is dying out.
Louise Gray, The Telegraph 12 Mar 10;

Despite restrictions on taking the species from European waters, the spiny dogfish is still imported into the UK and other EU countries. Most of the meat in Britain ends up in fish and chips without consumers knowing what they are eating.

But a meeting of 175 countries next week is expected to crack down on trading of the shark meat meaning it will no longer be appearing in the nation's favourite dish.

Spiny dogfish is one of eight species of shark to be considered at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in Quatar later this week

Other species are porbeagle shark – that is found off Cornwall – oceanic whitetip, scalloped hammerhead, great hammerhead, smooth hammerhead, dusky and sandbar sharks.

Members will vote on whether to upgrade protection of the sharks to an Appendix II under the convention, meaning it is only possible to trade in the species if the country of export can prove the shark is coming from a sustainable population.

Matt Rand, coordinator of the Shark Alliance, said around 20,000 tonnes of spiny dogfish - also known as rock salmon - is still eaten in the EU every year. He said most of the meat in Britain ends up in fish and chips, but is labelled as something else.

But spiny dogfish are classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Endangered in the Northwest Atlantic and globally as Vulnerable.

Mr Rand said a vote at CITES will ensure the future of the spiny dogfish and force fishmongers to find more sustainable sources for fish and chips.

He urged the UK, which votes as part of the European block, to vote in favour of upgrading protection.

"Europe has done what it can, which is close the fishery. Now they have to take the next step by ensuring that none of these sharks come into the EU to end up in fish and chips," he said.

Along with sharks, the CITES conference from Saturday will examine proposals to tackle falling stocks of Atlantic bluefin tuna, threats to elephants, "tiger farms" and the fate of polar bears.