Trade in threatened elasmobranchs in the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh
Introduction
Sharks and rays (hereafter referred to as elasmobranchs) are amongst the most threatened marine fishes (Chin et al., 2012; Dulvy et al., 2014; Kyne et al., 2020). Unmanaged fisheries and trade have resulted in declines of their populations worldwide (Dulvy et al., 2016; Kyne et al., 2020). As keystone species (Bornatowski et al., 2014), elasmobranchs are crucial marine ecological elements structuring food webs and regulating predator-prey behaviour as apex predators (Dulvy et al., 2017; Roff et al., 2016; Heithaus et al., 2008). Trophic downgrading (Estes et al., 2011) by depleting these species may result in altered ecosystem functioning through meso-predatory species release (Stevens et al., 2000; Heithaus et al., 2012; Grubbs et al., 2016), shifting of food web dynamics (Wallach et al., 2015) and thus unsettling the ecological balance.
Elasmobranch fisheries and trade industries date back centuries (Dent and Clarke, 2015). Increasing demands for shark fins and meat across Asia, Europe and South America (Eriksson and Clarke, 2015; Okes and Sant, 2019) have resulted in a vast illegal global market annually valued at an estimated US$ 1 billion (declared only) (Dent and Clarke, 2015). Between 2000–2016, the fin industry alone valued an average of US$ 294 million per year (Okes and Sant, 2019). Although the most traded products are fins and meat, a range of products including fresh, frozen and dried meat, cartilages, jaws, liver oil, skin, and teeth are traded to satisfy a range of versatile needs (Clarke, 2004a, b; Hareide et al., 2007; Vannuccini, 1999; Haque et al., 2018). To meet these demands, annually, an estimated 63–273 million sharks are caught globally (Worm et al., 2013), of which 26–73 million sharks contribute to the fin industry (Dulvy et al., 2014). The shark fin trade centre is in Asia, with the biggest fin markets in China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Korea (Vannuccini, 1999; Okes and Sant, 2019). Hong Kong imports products from at least 85 countries, including other Asian countries (Clarke et al., 2006b; Hareide et al., 2007; Anon, 2012); however, many countries remain understudied and data-poor regarding trade dynamics and elasmobranch fisheries, including the Bay of Bengal region (Fischer et al., 2012).
The Bay of Bengal, a part of which falls within Bangladesh's sovereign seas, is the world's largest basin and a unique ecosystem (Amaral et al., 2017). It is home to an array of evolutionarily distinct species, including elasmobranchs. Numerous artisanal and industrial fisheries operate in coastal and offshore waters (DoF, 2016; Shamsuzzaman et al., 2017), capturing elasmobranchs as by-catch, as well as through targeted fishing (Haque et al., 2018; Kumar et al., 2019). All parts of an elasmobranch, especially fins and meat but also skin, cartilage and intestines, are processed to meet local and international demands (Haque et al., 2018). In 2010, the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) Sharks Working Group identified Bangladesh as "very data-poor" in terms of trade data and monitoring (Fischer et al., 2012). As a result, Bangladesh could officially not be identified as a significant shark product exporter (Dent and Clarke, 2015).
Elasmobranch fisheries within the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh, are also data-poor (Fischer et al., 2012; Haque et al., 2020) with inconsistent international as well as national datasets on aspects relating to illegal trade, supply chains and composition of traded species. This has resulted in a severe underestimation of elasmobranch trade for this region and delayed conservation actions. Available literature focusing on trade and national fisheries specific to Bangladesh is ambiguous, scarce, and patchy. The national accounting system for marine fish categorises all Bangladeshi species of elasmobranchs within a single category (DoF, 2018) and does not account for any coastal landings. Although existing studies on elasmobranchs touch upon existing trade (Hoq et al., 2011, 2014; Roy et al., 2012, 2014; Roy et al., 2015; Hasan et al., 2017), they do not characterise its extent, the species composition, existing trade hubs, or trade routes, furthermore, they over-simplify the dynamics of countrywide trade and stakeholders/actors (Hoq et al., 2011; Hasan et al., 2017), making recommendations for necessary interventions difficult.
The absence of an empirical understanding of trade and market dynamics hinders Bangladesh's obligations towards implementing the Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act, 2012 (WCSA, 2012) and CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) mandates. Bangladesh ratified the convention in November 1981. As a signatory of CITES, Bangladesh has the international commitment to regulating the trade in at least 17 elasmobranchs species. In addition, the WCSA, 2012 protects 29 species of elasmobranchs (Haque et al., 2018) in Bangladesh's territorial waters. Yet, conservation actions and management policies, for them to be effective, need accurate species-specific catch and trade data (Jabado et al., 2015; White et al., 2013; O’Bryhim et al., 2017; Cardeñosa et al., 2019) and market understanding (McNamara et al., 2016) involving different actors and mechanisms (Oyanedel et al., 2021). This data gap has restricted the quantitative and qualitative understanding of the market character, actors' involvement, product flow, and management needs of the elasmobranch trade in Bangladesh (Dent and Clarke, 2015).
To evaluate trade dynamics of shark and ray (families: Rhinidae, Rhinobatidae and Glaucostegidae) products in Bangladesh, here, we analysed trade data from existing datasets and conducted field surveys and interviews with shark traders at landing sites and shark processing centres. We identified (1) The trade chain of elasmobranch products originating from the region and investigated its extent and dynamics; (2) Target species and products, as well as their values within landings and the trade; and (3) Unreported trade. We also evaluated existing regulations in the context of global trade to conserve elasmobranchs in Bangladesh. The study's overarching objective is to present information that will substantially improve our understanding of the complex elasmobranch trade dynamics in Bangladesh with important global implications which will inform immediate conservation prerequisites for the Bay of Bengal.
Section snippets
Study sites
The current study was conducted between 14 October 2016 and 30 January 2020 at four landing sites - the Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation (BFDC) landing site in Cox’s Bazar, Firingi Bazar in Chattogram, Bazar ghat in Teknaf and the beach on St. Martin’s Island, ten adjacent markets and twelve elasmobranch processing centres in Chattogram City, Cox’s Bazar Sadar, Teknaf Upazila and St. Martin's Island in the south-eastern region of Bangladesh (Fig. 1). The selected landing sites are
Trade data analysis from existing literature, databases, national statistics and online companies
Available published literature provided limited knowledge on the trade in elasmobranchs in Bangladesh. 12 journal articles mentioned ‘trade’; however, did not characterise it further (Table 1). Instead, they mainly focused on elasmobranch landings from artisanal fisheries. Elasmobranch catch data was reported under one single group called 'sharks, rays and skates' by DoF in Bangladesh. Data on elasmobranch landings in the south-west and south-central regions was unavailable. DoF and BOBLME
Discussion
Bangladesh's artisanal elasmobranch trade has existed for decades with minimal management and an unknown impact on threatened elasmobranch populations. Our study demonstrates that nearly the entire international elasmobranch trade remains unreported, with the actual trade being between 86%–335% higher than the reported one. We show that Bangladesh's national and international elasmobranch trade fills a complicated and exclusive niche for both consumption and traditional product use.
Data availability statement
The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon request.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Alifa Bintha Haque conceived the research idea, conducted the fieldwork, analysed the data, prepared the visualisations and drafted the manuscript. Julia L.Y. Spaet significantly contributed to drafting and writing the manuscript and data analysis.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors report no declarations of interest.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to all interviewees for participating in this study and providing essential information. We also thank N. Seddon and R.D. Cavanagh for providing valuable comments and suggestions to the working manuscript. The authors are also thankful to Fayed Masud Khan and Mahi Washim for helping with the maps and Aparna Riti Biswas for managing the project as a research assistant and M Sanjeeb Hossain for helping in improving the final version of the manuscript.
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