Sharks could be the next mass victims of the pandemic as squalene, a substance found in the animals’ liver oil, is used to make vaccines. Millions of tons of this substance will be needed to manufacture any vaccines that are developed against Covid-19. Between 2,500 and 3,000 sharks need to be killed to obtain one ton of squalene.
Stefanie Brendl, director of Shark Allies, said her organization has investigated the issue and warned there is a risk to millions of sharks. She fears that if the need for squalene in vaccinations increases, populations of this marine predator could be decimated year by year and the species could even disappear.
“Just as we did something to prevent sharks from being caught just for their fins we have to do something about squalene,” Brendl said.
Brendl, who has been dedicated to shark conservation for two decades, told Efe she is not calling for an end to developing vaccines but that there are other sources to obtain squalene.
Around the world, 34 Covid-19 vaccine projects have reached clinical testing phases and 142 in earlier stages of development, according to the World Health Organization. A total of 17 of them use adjuvants, five contain shark squalene and the others are unknown, according to Shark Allies.
Brendl said organic compounds, mainly used in the cosmetic industry, can be obtained from plants and bacteria. She urged pharmaceutical companies to think about the planet not only about their profits.
Squalene from shark liver oil, which is mainly marketed in Asian countries, is cheaper than its alternatives but Brendl warned that for nature “cheap is expensive”.
Shark Allies had been studying the consequences on the world’s shark population of the use of squalene by the cosmetics industry and when Covid-19 emerged this research took a new direction, she added.
She said using sharks as a source of squalene is “short-sighted, unpredictable and unsustainable” and endanger a wild animal with a finite population already facing numerous other threats.
Shark Allies has launched a Change.org petition aimed at regulatory authorities in the United States, European Union, United Kingdom and China and the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry.
More than 27,000 people have signed so far, calling for the use of non-animal squalene as much as possible and the development of large-scale production of the substance.
“Shark squalene is not a unique or ‘magical’ ingredient,” the petition said.
“The chemical structure of the compound squalene (C30H50) is identical in sharks and non-animal alternatives, meaning its efficacy in vaccines should be identical regardless of its source.”
Sharks have larger livers than many other fish, it is the predator’s largest organ and constitutes almost a third of the animals’ body weight.
Some species, such as those living in deep waters, have even larger livers and are hunted only for their oil and not for their meat or fins. EFE-EPA
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