Spain tops the chart of exporters to the global fin trade by a wide margin, accounting for over a quarter of the 188,368 metric tons of shark fin products imported into Hong Kong SAR, Singapore and Taiwan between 2003 and 2020. Other shark fin exporters include Portugal, the Netherlands, France and Italy. In addition, Italy, Spain and Greece are the EU’s primary importers of shark meat from the three major Asian trading centers. The study also found that, although global shark fin exports into these hubs are decreasing overall — a warning sign that wild shark populations are falling — the proportion imported from the EU is rising steadily, from 28 percent in 2017 to more than 45 percent in 2020. At this rate, the EU could soon be the majority source of shark fins for the world’s three largest trading hubs.

Significant data discrepancies are signalled between the import data from the three Asian trade hubs compared to the EU export data: the aggregated import data consistently displayed a considerably higher import figure than the corresponding export data from the EU. The discrepancy between the two datasets ranges from 1,650 metric tons to 2,318 metric tons, suggesting a concerning case of potential misreporting in the shark fin-related trade. Potentially, the EU is playing a much bigger role in the global shark trade than EU export data shows.

Given this new information, it is now the EU’s responsibility to champion the inclusion of all commercially-traded shark species in CITES Appendix II to ensure that international trade is kept to sustainable levels. This step is no longer precautionary, but necessary and urgent given the evidence of dramatic shark declines caused by unmanaged catch and trade. As a world leader in catching and trading sharks, the EU must also lead the way in accelerating global conservation action to prevent the collapse of shark populations.