Relative contribution to the shark fin trade of Indo‐Pacific and Eastern Pacific pelagic thresher sharks

Abstract

Fins from highly mobile shark species entering large shark fin trade hubs can originate from various geographical locations and stocks. Tracing fins from internationally regulated species to their starting point in the supply chain can have important implications for the monitoring and enforcement of international laws intended to protect threatened shark species. Here we use pelagic thresher shark Alopias pelagicus fin samples (N = 86) collected during a 4‐year period (2014–2017), and phylogenetic analyses, using the cytochrome oxidase I (COI), to determine the relative contribution of this species to the two largest shark fin trade hubs in the world, Hong Kong and Guangzhou, mainland China. Our results suggest that the Eastern Pacific is a major starting point of the international supply chain of pelagic thresher shark fins, contributing 84.9% of the analyzed market‐derived fin samples. We suggest that capacity building investments are needed in Eastern Pacific countries to increase the efficiency of border control inspections and improve the enforcement of international trade regulations for this threatened shark species. Our study highlights the utility of combining population genetics data and large‐scale market surveys to trace wildlife products back to the starting point in the supply chain and support the assessment of emerging management and conservation measures for exploited sharks.

Two hundred and five newly assembled mitogenomes provide mixed evidence for rivers as drivers of speciation for Amazonian primates

“…mitochondrial DNA, molecular phylogenetics, platyrrhines, riverine barrier hypothesis, South American primates of animals found in wild meat markets and the illegal pet trade (Cardeñosa et al, 2021;Maligana et al, 2020;Russello et al, 2008).…”

Assigning shark fin origin using species distribution models needs a reality check

“…250 t) to account for it being the country supplying the most fins to the trade [13]. Their findings also contrast previous accounts of trade [10], and genetic evidence suggesting primarily Eastern Pacific origins for pelagic thresher sharks ( Alopias pelagicus ) and scalloped hammerhead sharks ( Sphyrna lewini ) and Indo-Pacific origins for silky sharks ( Carcharhinus falciformis ) [3,4]. These genetic tracking approaches provide more relevant outcomes for identifying the most prevalent source regions and important supply chain starting points for shark fins, and to prioritize conservation measures to these key regions.…”

“…These sources were not appropriate for global fin trade assessment as (i) there has been a shift in the supply chain from fins to meat in the area since 2010 [ 9 ], and (ii) unlike markets that aggregate samples from many nations, these samples only represented species from a single nation and so should not have been distributed to all waters where those species are known to occur. The paper also implicitly assumes that the proportion of fins in the four DNA studies relates directly to true global catches, and thus falsely deduces that species not found in these papers—like spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias —do not occur in the fin trade [ 4 ].…”

DNA Barcoding untuk Autentikasi Produk Hiu Segar dari Perairan Nusa Tenggara Barat

“…Teknik DNA barcoding maupun mini-barcoding telah digunakan untuk mengidentifikasi spesies elasmobranch dalam berbagai produk komersial, termasuk sirip hiu kering, daging hiu, dan sup sirip hiu (Barbuto et al 2010;Fields et al 2015;Sembiring et al 2015;Chuang et al 2016;O'Bryhim et al 2017;Steinke et al 2017;Hellberg et al 2019;Abdullah et al 2020;Cardeñosa et al 2020). Sejumlah penelitian juga telah membedakan spesies hiu menggunakan DNA barcoding yang dikombinasikan dengan analisis berbasis karakter, yang didasarkan pada ada tidaknya nukleotida spesifik yang ditentukan untuk diagnostik untuk spesies tertentu (Wong et al 2009;Fields et al 2015;Velez-Zuazo et al 2015).…”