Cayman supermarket says no to shark products

(CNS): Joining a growing regional trend to stop shark fishing and the sale of shark products, Foster’s Food Fair is banning the products from its shelves. Department of Environment Deputy Director Tim Austin explained that sharks are a vital part of the ocean’s food web that help to keep Cayman’s reefs healthy. But the much misunderstood ocean predator is being lost at an astonishing rate, both locally and globally. This is mainly due to the Asian shark fin trade but the demand for alternative health products, such as shark cartilage, is adding to the problem. Shark cartilage has been thought to aid a number of ailments, including cancer, but scientific studies have now shown that it is not effective in halting the growth or spread of tumours.

Despite the use of shark cartilage in the plethora of supplements used to treat other conditions, there is no data to suggest they are effective. 

Unlike bony fish, sharks are very vulnerable to exploitation as they mature slowly, reproduce late in life and they are not prolific, often only producing pups once every two years.

Foster’s Food Fair has taken other steps to help the environment. Along with the islands' other supermarkets, it participates in the reusable shopping bag campaign and it has assisted research on Cayman’s sharks by sponsoring a tag for Coco the Tiger Shark.

The information from the tag has helped the team from the Department of Environment, Marine Conservation International, Save Our Seas Foundation and the Guy Harvey Research Institute to better understand the movements of sharks in local waters. The team is studying the swimming patterns of the our larger sharks by tracking them both locally and regionally around the Caribbean Sea.

(Photo: Shark in local waters)