Are shark cartilage & oil dietary supplements endangering shark populations? Thursday, July 29, 2010.

Q. Are natural health supplements causing sharks to become endangered species?
A. I don't know. I am the editor of HolisticReview.com, which currently suggests some shark-based supplements. To answer this concern, I am starting discussions in online forums.

My findings to date.

As many as 90% of shark populations are gone. Many sharks are an endangered species. Sharks as apex predators are vital to the oceans which comprise 3/4 of the earth's ecosystem. For just one example, a lack of sharks leads to a lack of shellfish and suffocating algae blooms. Sharks eat rays which eat shellfish which eat algae. Click here for the PDF report: Predators as Prey by Oceana.org.
Shark cartilage is not a cancer cure. I am particularly convinced of this by the negative results of a 1995 shark cartilage and cancer study by the pro-supplement Life Extension Foundation.
In my opinion, the anti-angiogenesis theory for cancer therapy promoted by Dr. Lane in Sharks Don't Get Cancer has a better chance of working with non-shark herbs such as Angioblock by Nutricology. Incidentally sharks do get cancer including cartilage tumors.
However all cartilage does have anti-cancer elements. According to several sources including the anti-supplement Shark Foundation: "There are several not yet precisely defined active substances in cartilage (including shark cartilage) which have shown to inhibit the growth of certain tumors IN THE TEST-TUBE."
All cartilage also is helpful for joint support. Joints are largely cartilage. Cartilage is high in chondroitin, of proven value for joint support, even according to the anti-supplement Quackwatch.org. Interestingly, recent research suggests that pure chondroitin may possibly encourage prostate cancer. Cartilage thus supplies a full range of joint-building synergists including the prudential lack of pro-cancer implications.
However in my view, cartilage supplements are usually indigestible, including the Benefin brand by Dr. Lane. In my view the high doses suggested by Dr. Lane are especially stressful to the digestive system.
In my view, the best dietary cartilage was Soluble Bovine Cartilage by Enzymatic Therapy. In promotional articles, Enzymatic Therapy claimed most research referenced by Dr. Lane was from bovine cartilage, and that Dr. Lane simply claimed shark cartilage to be more effective but gave no sufficient reason. Unfortunately, Soluble Bovine Cartilage was canceled from lack of sales after the BSE or "mad cow disease" debacle. Apparently, the only similar product is "Advanced Shark Cartilage" by Twinlab. This similarly is standardized for digestibility. I would prefer a standardized non-shark cartilage but can not find any.
Shark liver oil seems the leading nutritional source for alkylglycerols, important for creating white blood cells. Most shark oils are non-standardized and may contain toxins. However one safe and reliable alkylglycerol is Shark Liver Oil by Scandinavian Formulas.
All manufacturers of shark-based dietary supplements seem to claim their materials are byproducts. I.e., they claim the sharks are killed for meat and no added sharks are killed for cartilage or shark oil.
Pro-shark activists (such as Bite-Back.com) routinely denounce shark supplements. However I find no attempt to disprove the claim that these are "byproducts". Meanwhile I do find the attitude that dietary supplements are generally worthless. It seems acceptable to presume dietary supplements guilty of anything and to bypass the usual standards of journalism.
In my opinion, the primary juggarnaut behind all pollution and all extinctions is human overpopulation, and this cause is drastically under-emphasized by almost everyone including most environmental advocates. Instead of cutting the human population by half, the defacto emphasis appears to be to improve recycling, food production and energy efficiency, meanwhile leaving scant disincentive for the human population to double yet again. This obviously will result in the same net problems, plus an exponentially greater economic difficulty in solving them. Meanwhile the already critical problems of overfishing, deforestation and habitat destruction are hardly entered into the equation. These receive mainly the vain hope of supposedly surfing along the crest of disaster with game preserves or hunting laws. (This is not directly relevant to this disussion but I feel obliged to include this perspective.)
Finning is a well known atrocity, responsible for 25% to 75% of shark fishing. The fins are removed for "shark fin soup" and the remainder is discarded. I have 2008 photos of shark fins at the Jakarta International Airport. Effective bans on finning are long overdue. This seems mainly about Asian political will and not enforcement difficulties. However, there seems no link between finning and dietary supplements. Shark pills apparently come from the shark meat industry, which presumably kills too many sharks but does use the entire shark. If 75% of shark kills are finned, then rather than to implicate supplements, this would seem to suggest that supplements can not be a significant factor.
Whether or not shark supplements are derived from "byproducts", we clearly need immediate limits on all forms of shark fishing.

My current primary suggestions.

I suggest that any organization which is interested in shark preservation should produce a line of standardized non-shark alternatives to shark supplements, the profits for which can be dedicated to research for the benefit of sharks. I would help to promote and maintain such products regardless of sales. However I do not have the capability to do this alone.
I suggest that any retailer of shark supplements should not offer discount prices, and instead donate 20% of the purchase price to the Shark Research Institute.
I suggest that any consumer of shark supplements should contact the manufacturer and enourage them also to donate to the Shark Research Institute. For contacts for the products I have mentioned see:
http://www.twinlab.com/contact.cfm
http://scandinavianformulas.com/contactfull2.html

My current primary questions. (URL links wanted please if available.)

Is there any specific information proving that shark supplements promote the killing of sharks?
Is there an effective non-shark alternative to shark liver oil for alkylglycerol supplementation?
What are some easy and effective ways to donate online, with PayPal or a credit card, to nonprofit organizations for the benefit of sharks? Current list:
- Oceana.org. (Not specifically for sharks, but a marine conservation group which is active on shark issues.)
- Shark Research Institute. (Sharks.org. To make a donation: simply choose whatever "membership" level agrees with your desired donation. You can also check "yes" or "no" to automatic renewal.)
What is the relative economic incentive for supplying raw shark meat vs. raw shark cartilage or liver, both per shark and also on a global scale (or at least in the primary markets of the USA and Japan)? I.e., if the fishing company receives $60 per shark, and if only $5 of this value is in cartilage and liver, then it is reasonable to claim that a boycott on shark supplements will have no effect. However if $20 of this value is in cartilage and liver, that is a different matter, regardless of any technical claim of being "byproducts". Similarly, if something like $100 million annually is received by all Japanese fishing companies for sharks, then I would like to know whether the money received for supplement materials is something like $50 million or perhaps more like $5 million?

My online discussions.

Life Extension Foundation

Dr. Weil Health Forum

Alternative Medicine Forums

Greenpeace

Animal Planet R.O.A.R.

The Environment Site

Scubaboard Shark Forum

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Are shark cartilage & oil dietary supplements endangering shark populations? August 30, 2008.

According to current research, as of 2008, 90% of the world's sharks have been destroyed.

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