Asian demand for shark fins threatens local species in Peru

At a market in northern Peru, fishermen and traders divvy up mutilated sharks, loading the fish onto motorized boats. Much of the meat will be eaten locally, but the fins removed will go somewhere else: China.

Peru is the world’s largest exporter of shark fins, according to the marine protection organization Oceana. The catches are typically shipped to Asia, where shark fin soup is a delicacy that can cost upwards of $200 a bowl.

This lucrative trade is threatening shark species off the coast of Peru and neighboring Ecuador, according to marine biologists.

In just over a decade, Peru has nearly tripled exports of shark fins, both legal and illegal, reaching a record 400 tons in 2021, according to Oceana data. The figure dropped to about 339 tonnes last year amid stricter global scrutiny.

Fishing and selling legally caught shark fins is permitted in Peru, but there are much larger populations of sharks off the coast of Ecuador where such activity is prohibited.

Alicia Kuroiwa, a Peruvian marine biologist and Oceana shark expert, said three-quarters of fins exported from Peru come from Ecuador and are smuggled across the border illegally in refrigerated trucks.

Many arrive in the border city of Tumbes, in Peru, where there is a market for meat and shark fins.

Fishermen can claim that sharks were caught in their nets inadvertently, allowing them to sell them.

A representative for Peru’s environment ministry said she did not have immediately available details on shark fin exports, without commenting further.

Another marine biologist, Adriana González, says that indiscriminate fishing off Peru and Ecuador threatens species such as the blue shark, the mako shark, and the hammerhead shark.

Under the name “tollo”, various species of sharks are regularly consumed in the country in the popular Peruvian ceviche dish. However, the fins are separated and exported to Asia.

“The Chinese are looking in all markets because they cannot be self-sufficient, and in Peru there is a very strong trade route for fins,” González said.

In November last year, a global convention on trade in endangered species agreed to expand regulations for requiem sharks, fished primarily for their fins in soup. There are sharks of this type among those caught off the Peruvian and Ecuadorian coasts.

In a cove in the Tumbes fishing town of Zorritos, fishermen who make a living from shark fishing complain of another concern: Climate change has meant fewer sharks in the fishing grounds.

“They have been absent with the warm waters,” said fisherman Edgardo Cruz.

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