Fish Oil Craze Oils Gears Of Whale Shark Extinction

CINDY LUO
Staff Writer

While Americans are criticizing Japan for slaughtering dolphins in Taiji, Wakayama, they are ignoring the fact that their health craze for fish oil is creating another bloodbath of whale sharks in a factory located in China’s Zhejiang province.

The whale shark is classified as endangered on the Red List of Threatened Species composed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Although it has been illegal to catch whale sharks in most countries, according to Hong Kong-based marine conservation group WildLifeRisk, businessmen have been smuggling shark fish oil for years due to its high profit, which is approximately $31,000 per whale shark. U.S. consumers bought $1.2 billion in fish oil supplements in 2013. The Chinese plant kills over 600 whale sharks every year in order to meet this need along with other orders from Canada and European countries.Investigators also believe that there are still many undiscovered factories engaged in the trade of endangered sharks in China.

However, fish oil is not a medicine that people cannot live without, and it can be dangerous to
take this kind of tonic that is not able to cure disease. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, despite the possible benefits the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil may provide, sharks are not recommended for people to consume. They contain high levels of mercury, pesticide residues and other toxins that might damage people’s nerves and brain and nervous system’s development.

It is intimidating and startling to see how these harmless gentle creatures are slaughtered on an industrial scale. If we keep doing this or even accelerate the trade, the animal will face extinction sooner or later. There’s no reason for a person to take in supplements that do not provide clear medical treatment at the risk of countless whales.