role in the world market and has established a commercial link with EU countries, such as Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, but especially with France, which in 2020 received 23% of its exports. The shark meat market is a truly global trade, with Brazil importing the largest amount by weight and Uruguay ranking one of the largest importers and exporters by quantity. In Asia, the main exporters are Indonesia and China, with South Korea and Thailand importing large amounts. Another key shark meat export flow is between New Zealand, a net exporter of shark meat, and Australia, a net importer. In Africa, 88% of Morocco’s imported shark meat came from Spain. This is yet another indicator of how essential this commodity has become, especially in Europe, and shines a light on why commercial interests are continuing to influence decisions on shark conservation.
"Global market data indicate how essential this commodity has become in Europe and why commercial interests are continuing to influence decisions on shark conservation."
THE COMPANIES DRIVING DESTRUCTION
Fishing companies are commonly part of Producers Organisations and, according to the European Commission, are “the key players in the sector. Through their production and marketing plans, they deliver the EU common fisheries policy and contribute to sustainable fisheries and aquaculture”. Yet they also act as the industry’s main lobbying force, with processing and trade companies also lobbying on behalf of their members. In Spain, there are four main Producer Organisations (Vigo, Burela, Marín and A Guarda), one for each home port in Galicia. The leading Spanish organisations defending the interest of the industry are OPNAPA,163 OPP-7 Burela,164 OPROMAR165 (presided over by Juan Carlos Martín Fragueiro, Spain’s Secretary General for Fisheries between 2004-2010) and ORPAGU. The latter organisation is the only one that has been recognised as transnational, since it also includes a Portuguese fleet.166 The Spanish and Portuguese fishing industries are closely linked, with many Portuguese companies integrated into Spain’s vast network of companies via ownership or investment.167 Also central to industry lobbying is ANECTEAM (National Association of Commercializing Companies and Transformers of Highly Migratory Species). The association was created in 2018 to cooperate with the EU surface longline fleet and is formed of 14 companies.168 These four Producer Organisations, together with ANECTEAM, represent 90% of the EU’s distant-water catch by 124 fishing vessels, representing 95% of the EU fishing fleet in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean.169
The global trade in shark meat
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