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Ban shark meat! Protect our oceans and our health

Ban shark meat! Protect our oceans and our health

To the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of the European Union

Petition

We call on you to:

  1. Equal health standards for all fish: Align the legal limit for methylmercury in shark and ray meat with that of other predatory fish, reducing it from 1.0 mg/kg to 0.5 mg/kg.
  2. Ban shark meat: Ban the sale of shark and ray products that exceed EU limits for toxic substances.
  3. Ensure transparency and traceability: Make labelling of species, origin, and toxin levels mandatory for all seafood products and increase official controls.
  4. Take responsibility through cooperation: Strengthen collaboration between EU health, environment, and fisheries authorities to reduce global shark and ray trade and support marine protected areas.

Why is this important?

270,000 sharks are killed every day. That’s three every second. [1] And with every single one of them, the fragile balance of the ocean crumbles a little more.

Sharks are the guardians of the seas. For millions of years, they’ve kept marine life in check - helping coral reefs breathe, fish populations recover, and the ocean stay alive. But now, over one in three shark species is threatened with extinction. [2]

And Europe is a big part of the problem.

Our fishing boats are among the world’s largest exporters of shark meat. Our supermarkets, hospitals and schools still sell it [3] - often under hidden names like rock salmon or dog fish. Every fillet on a shelf means another animal pulled from the sea, often brutally killed.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Austria has already banned all shark products - proving that change is possible and that Europe can choose protection over profit. [4]

By banning all shark products from the EU, we can follow that lead - protecting sharks, the ocean, and the future of life on Earth.

Sign today to protect sharks. Because without sharks, the ocean collapses. And without the ocean, so do we.

References:

[1] https://gallifrey.foundation/sharks-apex-preditors-and-ocean-guardians/

[2] https://iucn.org/press-release/202412/third-sharks-rays-and-chimaeras-are-threatened-extinction-new-report-narrows

[3] https://www.wwf.mg/?4039391/WWF-The-global-trade-in-shark-and-ray-meat-is-a-business-worth-over-2-billion-euros

[4] https://www.sharkproject.org/en/press-release/austria-largely-bans-shark-products/