A Brazilian lawmaker said he would call for a parliamentary hearing after Mongabay’s shark meat investigation.Experts reacted to the investigation, saying the uncovered public tenders show greater extinction risk for sharks and urging stronger global protection.Industry groups called Mongabay’s investigation “alarmist,” defending shark meat’s safety and sustainability, despite warnings from scientists.
A Brazilian lawmaker is calling for a parliamentary hearing after a Mongabay investigation found government agencies have sought to purchase thousands of metric tons of shark meat for public institutions, including schools, hospitals and prisons.
Nilto Tatto, leader of the environmental caucus in Brazil’s lower house of Congress, said he was “shocked” at the scale of the purchases revealed in our article published in late July. “We can’t accept it,” Tatto, a member of the Workers’ Party representing São Paulo state, said by phone.
The investigation — supported by the Pulitzer Center and republished by Brazilian outlets Folha de S.Paulo and ((o))eco — identified more than 1,000 shark meat tenders issued since 2004 by municipal and state agencies across 10 Brazilian states.
It named 5,900 public institutions as possible shark meat recipients based on a review of tender documents. Although in Brazil some tenders don’t result in actual purchases (which can be executed or not), the investigation showed that products were mainly procured for schools, but also military bases, homeless shelters, maternity wards, elderly care centers and other institutions.
