Shark fins sold for soup include many at-risk species

A whale shark is seen in the Galapagos Islands in September 2012. The whale shark, listed as vulnerable since 2003, is among the seven at-risk shark species found among 71 dried shark fins obtained at stores and markets in Vancouver and tested in a new study. (Jonathan Green/Galapagos National Park/Reuters)

Shark fins and manta ray gills found for sale in stores and markets in Vancouver and in China just a few years ago belonged mainly to species that are now listed as at-risk and banned for trade, DNA testing shows.
Researchers led by Dirk Steinke at the University of Guelph found that 71 per cent of more than 100 samples tested belonged to species that are considered at risk of extinction, including the whale shark, the largest fish in the world. It has been listed as "vulnerable" by the International Union of Conservation since 2003.

'They're not cheap'
In 2011 and 2012, University of Guelph researchers and volunteers from the Vancouver Animal Defense League collected 71 dried shark fins from Vancouver stores and markets.
"It took them awhile to get the money together because they're not cheap," Steinke said.

Meanwhile, Scientists working with the Save Our Seas Shark Research Centre at Nova Southeastern University obtained 54 ray gill plates from Hong Kong and mainland China.