The new Soylent Green.
The surf world awoke this morning to shock, dismay and confusion as a devastating new study revealed that, for years, they have been feeding a sometimes aquatic enemy to greatly cherished loved ones.
Ben Wainwright and Ian French, of Yale-NUS College, Singapore, respectively, have been examining the ingredients of pet food and have concluded that products labeled as containing “white fish” or sometimes “salmon” contain the flesh of shark instead.
Of the 144 samples sequenced, per the study, 45, or roughly a third, contained shark DNA. The Guardian reports, “The most frequently identified species were blue shark, silky shark and whitetip reef shark. The silky shark and the whitetip reef shark are listed as ‘vulnerable’ in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. Products containing DNA of the sicklefin weasel shark, the Caribbean sharpnose shark and the sand tiger shark – all vulnerable species – were also identified.”
Wainright and French, perturbed, declared, “The majority of pet owners are likely lovers of nature, and we think most would be alarmed to discover that they could be unknowingly contributing to the overfishing of shark populations.”
It is possible that the meat is being sheared from the carcasses of sharks that have been illegally caught and finned or, more worrisome, that it is a reflection of a growing shark fishing trade.
Surfers, anyhow, decidedly conflicted. One one hand, sharks have been known to eat surfers. On the other hand, they contribute to a healthy marine balance. How will the tables turn once surfers feed sharks to dogs and cats?
Do any surfers have cats?
More as the story develops.
Great picture of the dog tugging his frisbee away from a shark but the rest of your article as true as it may be is just a bunch of hype. Go report on some real stuff there’s enough corruption within our government healthcare industry big pharma the DEA FBI CIA and you’re worried about people making dog food out of sharks? Really this is why you went to school to become a journalist? Go flip hamburgers at McDonald’s and put yourself to good use.
How do these people call themselves Journalist? Although the subject of the this article is disturbing, if true, the “writer” is Tired! You’re saying surfers should care if dogs/cats are being fed sharks? I dont see the coralation. This article is not only dumb, it’s stupid. And the question of if surfers own cats!?? ONLY IF THE ARE COOL AS FUCK!
You failed to mention the author stated that “sharks have been known to eat surfers”. This is a ridiculous statement. Sure surfers, as well as swimmers, have been bitten by sharks but to say they’re actually being eaten. C’mon man! This whole article is plain silly.
Why would surfers be “torn” on this issue? Even ignoring the fact that most surfers love sharks and the ocean in general, the number of shark meat going into pet food is very unlikely to affect their odds of getting bitten, especially since the meat is most likely almost exclusively from bycatch, or even the intentional targeting of sharks for shark-fin soup. So whether or not the meat is kept by the fishermen(eventually making its way into your cat/dog food), the sharks are dead either way.
Not only that, but the sharks listed are not even the types of sharks that attack surfers. I’ve never heard of a blue shark knocking a surfer off his board and taking a chunk out of his side.
I often thought my dog had fish breath
I am pretty proud to say I don’t have any friends who own cats.
GOOD! Creeps like YOU shouldn’t own any living Thing! Not even a Plant! Just shows what a piece if crap you really Are!
Pretty Catty of you. And don’t think I didn’t notice you upvote yourself.
My dog is named after a shark, does that make him a cannibal?
Blue sharks are dumb as shit and it’s good to know that something can eat them.
I’ve seen one blue shark take multiple baits and make a mess of the deck.
All of us tripping over each other trying to keep the lines from tangling.
Good riddance.
My uncle was a fisherman, and he told me that sometimes they’d catch a blue shark(since they’re by far the common shark around here)by accident and would slit open its belly, and throw it back in the ocean(which, as a shark/ocean lover kind of pisses me off, but this was decades ago, and-as you mentioned-sharks can piss of fishermen.) He said the sharks would actually eat their own guts.
While I do agree that sharks in general aren’t the brightest of creatures(especially when compared to more derived tetrapods like mammals and birds), in a way ggggt makes sense that they would eat their own guts, as that’s how they throw up(they actually turn their stomachs inside-out, and shoot them out of their mouths, where the contents gets left behind, and they essentially just swallow their stomachs back up.)
Regardless, just because something is dumb doesn’t mean we should get rid of it. I don’t know how serious you were(if at all), but getting rid of sharks, especially something like blue sharks that have a cosmopolitan distribution, both close to shore and in the middle of the ocean, would have a devastating effect on ocean life as a ole(in fact, with the enormous numbers of sharks killed each year(~100,000,000), we already are seeing serious side effects, such a huge 8ncreases of large squid like Humboldt replacing shark populations. And I assure you, dealing with a Humboldt, in the ocean or in a boat, is 1,000 times worse than a blue shark. Just check out the suits/armor that people that dive in Humboldt territory have to wear.
Wow, that really turned into a rand. Lol. My bad. Regardless, don’t be a dick. Hug a shark.
some kneeboarders own cats, but surfers mostly own dogs
true fact.
I’ve heard of some cool, hep-cat surfers, and some cool surf-dogs too.
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
Watching Hovland pitching out out of the bunker at 12 @ the Arnold Palmer Invitational and there’s a damn dog barking in the background there. Between that dog at WSL’s Portugal stop and this PGA tour stop, I reckon the dogs of the world have been barking “no big deal” about this whole shark thing for days already.
Um..that flake stuff you were eating while in Oz, got some bad news for ya Chaz…
The only issue with this story should be the species of sharks being used in the pet food. Only great white, tiger, and bull sharks should be used… and as many as possible.