Graham Buckingham of Bite-Back, which has campaigned successfully to get several major supermarkets to withdraw various species of fish due to conservation concerns, was seething.
'Harrods should hang its head in shame,' he said. 'The inclusion of a shark in its food hall is equivalent to erecting a sign declaring that it's OK to eat shark meat.'
Last year in the UK alone, says Bite-Back, 3290 tonnes of shark meat were consumed, contributing to a 'worldwide marine crisis caused by over-fishing and over-consumption'.
Some shark species are legally protected but many are not, even though they face drastic reductions in populations due to over-fishing. In the UK, the basking shark is protected, but it is legal to catch porbeagles.
Harrods was not, therefore, breaking any law. But whatever the situation statutorily, said Bite-Back, the 'continued sale of shark products is neither ethical nor sustainable'.
'The fact is that shark populations around the world are being decimated to keep up with consumer demand,' said Buckingham, 'and this decision by Harrods can only be described as an endorsement of an underwater holocaust.'
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