176 Man and Shark 



In the Chagos Archipelago in the middle of the Indian Ocean, the 

 eating of shark, oddly enough, has led to an increase in the consumption 

 of pork. After sharks have been butchered for meat, their carcasses are 

 fed to pigs, which would otherwise find little to eat on the islands. The 

 pigs grow fat on the protein-rich diet, and produce enough progeny to 

 keep pork in the islanders' diet. 



UN-sponsored research has also found another use for meal made 

 from shark meat: flour. Actually, fish flour is so nutritious compared to 

 wheat flour that its developers feel "flour" is an inferior word to describe 

 it. Flour produced from fish meal (virtually any kind of fish can be 

 used) contains 85 per cent animal protein as compared with 15 per cent 

 protein found in fresh meat and fish. This is one of the highest con- 

 centrated protein substances yet developed by man. 



United Nations researchers say that the development of fish flour 

 may mark a major victory in the battle to supply the mass of the world's 

 people with adequate amounts of animal protein. Fish flour now can 

 be produced at little more than the cost of flour made from wheat or 

 maize. Further research will drive the cost down even further. Fish 

 flour can be used any way wheat flour is used, from making bread to 

 making spaghetti. 



In World Sea Fisheries,* a comprehensive world survey of the fishing 

 industry. Selachians are recognized as important food fish from Europe 

 to Japan. It will no doubt come as something of a surprise to most 

 people to learn that thousands of tons of sharks, skates, and rays are 

 caught annually by the fishermen of many countries. World Sea Fisheries 

 gives these approximate 1951 tonnage catches of sharks and rays in 

 leading shark-eating countries: 



Japan, 85,000 tons; Norway, 66,000; United Kingdom, 35,700; Spain, 

 11,600; Belgium, 4,700; United States, 3,400; Denmark, 2,900; Eire, 2,- 

 400; West Germany, 1,500; Iceland, 300; Canada, 200. These figures, 

 probably derived largely from the Yearbook of Fishery Statistics,^ are 

 incomplete. As indicated earlier, some countries do not keep any reliable 

 figures and others, for one reason or another, do not report their com- 

 mercial catches in standard classifications. 



But, as the accompanying table shows, the landings of sharks and dog- 

 fish from commercial fishing are sometimes accurately reported. This table 

 shows the 1961 Selachian landings in Denmark, in toto. 



The eating of shark has been going on since men first started catching 

 oceanic fish. Some of the earliest Americans, shore-dwelling Indians in 

 southeastern Florida, ate shark. Ancient Greeks and Romans not only 



''Robert Morgan, World Sea Fisheries (London: Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1956). 

 5 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Yearbook of Fishery 

 Statistics (Rome, Italy, annual). 



