A Shark’s Tale ends in FiveSixEight

Recently I went for lunch at FiveSixEight in Beit Quad and was very surprised to find oven-baked Blue Shark Fillet available on the menu at a very affordable £5.50.

I wanted to double check if it really was shark fillet, so I e-mailed the commercial services manager, who confirmed that yes indeed they were serving real shark on the menu. I decided to reply and ask very politely if they would consider taking shark off the menu for the following three reasons:

Blue Shark (Prionace glauca), is listed in the 2010 IUCN Red List assessment as near threatened and the continued sale of shark fillets contributes to the decline of shark populations globally. Blue Sharks are among the most heavily fished sharks in the world.

Sharks have been on the planet for around 400 million years, and as top predators they play an important role in marine ecosystems. Sharks are slow-growing, late to mature, and do not reproduce often – this means that shark populations are particularly vulnerable to overfishing and recover slowly, if at all.

I think it would send out a very positive message if we refuse to serve shark on our menus

This university is one of the world’s best higher education institutions and we have a large international student and staff population. I think it would send out a very positive message if we refuse to serve shark on our menus.

I tried to be really positive and engage openly with the authorities as I think this is probably the best way to try and negotiate change. I have had a response to my e-mail and it’s actually very interesting although not very satisfying.

They said that the role of the catering establishment is primarily commercial and “the sales of shark fillets are currently representing a huge success”. They asked me to be reassured that the shark fillets they currently sell are in line with the university sustainability policy, and that the company they use to source their food “supply only products which are certified by the EU Food Standard Agency under licence to be acceptable in Welfare, Hygiene and Conservation”. Unfortunately this does not reassure me and I am looking into this further and trying to find out from the supplier their:

• catch method
• area of catch
• landing port
• and, target species.

It seems to me that a more efficent route to remove shark from the menu would be if it doesn’t sell well. Hit them where it hurts, in the pocket. So I guess there is work to be done to educate students and staff to be aware of the environmental impact of eating shark and other unsustainable fish has. This is why I am writing to you. I have some ideas for raising awareness and am discussing the issue with Biteback (a radical animal rights movement), so expect more about this in the next instalment of what could develop into an epic battle between good and evil – or me just dressed up in a shark suit during my lunch breaks handing out leaflets outside the bar.

But seriously, it would be fantastic if we could convince them to take shark off the menu, it is such a wonderful opportunity to send a positive message to our students and staff. Sustainable fish and fishing methods have been in the news a lot lately, thanks to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Fish Fight series on Channel 4 (http://www.fishfight.net). This series covered some of the major issues facing the oceans and investigated how fish gets onto our plates. Controversial issues such as shark fin soup, by catch, tuna fishing and salmon farming were examined and all of the programmes encouraged people to think about the impact we have, and to consider alternatives. Whilst serving shark fillet is very different from serving shark fin, it still encourages the consumption of an endangered species. While other universities have been embracing the Fish Fight, for example, the University of Portsmouth Catering Dept have been selling mackerel baps in the student union, we at Imperial are selling shark fillets. Frankly, it’s just embarrassing and shows a lack of awareness of these important issues.

I wonder if we can begin a fish fight of our own here at Imperial – we can begin by getting shark off the FiveSixEight menu. The Marine Conservation Society publishes its ‘Good Fish Bad Fish’ guide (www.fishonline.org) - shark is rated as a fish to avoid (Red 5), and yet we are serving this up to our students in the union bar. As a science based institution surely we can do better than this! Take a stand and don’t order the shark. The future of the shark and its habitat can only be preserved if we take action, or in this case, order a burger.

After receiving student feedback the Union has ceased serving shark.