UK chippies have been selling shark and chips to 'unsuspecting' customers

One of the greatest loves of British culture is our chippies, say what you will but nothing beats flaky cod and chips (battered if you’re from the Black Country).

But according to scientists, you could end up eating shark without realising it, with some takeaways selling it under generic names and customers none the wiser.

One study found 90 percent of the takeaways it sampled were selling a shark species that's on the IUCN red list as vulnerable.

So, how would a shark fillet end up in my chippy tea?

Pexels

Apparently, shark is sold as an unlabelled ‘mystery meat’ all over the world, even in the UK.

Researchers from Dalhousie University, in Canada found that there was an increase of four million in sharks killed between 2012 and 2019, and out of those killed, 25 million were from species already threatened with extinction.

While there has been a crackdown on the cruel practice of finning in many countries, where animals' fins are sliced off while they're still alive, this hasn't resulted in a reduction in the number of sharks killed.

Dr Darcy Bradley, co-author of the research paper, said to the Daily Mail: “We found that despite myriad regulations intended to curb shark overfishing, the total number of sharks being killed by fisheries each year is not decreasing.

“If anything, it's slightly increasing.”

It seems that now, that shark meat is making its way into our chippies.

According to a study by Exeter University in 2019, 90 percent of fish and chip shops they surveyed, mostly in southern England, were selling a species of shark calling spiny dogfish, which is considered vulnerable by the IUCN.

Pexels

It was found after scientists took samples from 78 different takeaways, with 71 selling spiny dogfish.

The shark meat is often sold under generic names like huss, rock, flake and rock salmon - meaning some customers could be eating shark meat without realising.

Now, campaigners want clear labelling of fish products to put an end to this.

Matt Brierley, a researcher who worked on Blue Planet II, told the Mirror that confusing generic names meant some chippies likely had no idea they were selling shark meat.

He said: "We have a broken system, a list of old regional names for sharks that today are so poorly understood traders and wholesalers don't know what they are buying or selling. DEFRA must change this."

A DEFRA spokesperson told LADbible that 'food labels should not be misleading because people need complete trust in the food they are eating'.

They added that names such as rock salmon have been 'used by chippies for decades and are unlikely to mislead the consumer', however, a petition to 'stop shark being sold under misleading names in the UK' launched last year currently has over 12,000 signatures.

DEFRA added that under the Commercial Designations of Fish United Kingdom, September 2013, certain species of small sharks are allowed to be sold under the names dogfish, flake, huss, rig, rock eel or rock salmon.

They said they 'are not opposed to the capture and use of sharks providing catches are shown to be legal and sustainable'.