“Buying a Pig in a Poke”: The Problem of Elasmobranch Meat Consumption in Southern Brazil

  • Hugo Bornatowski Instituto de Pesca, Avenida Av. Bartolomeu de Gusmão, 192, Santos, São Paulo, 11030-906.
  • Raul Rennó Braga Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação, DEA, Setor de Tecnologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba 19020.
  • Carolina Kalinowski Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação, DEA, Setor de Tecnologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba 19020.
  • Jean Ricardo Simões Vitule Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação, DEA, Setor de Tecnologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba 19020.
Keywords: Conservation, Environmental education, Elasmobranchs, Fisheries management, Food mislabeling, Supermarkets

Abstract

In Brazil, the demand for sustainably certified seafood is increasing and retailers have promised to source all seafood from sustainable sources by 2015. In the southern portion of the country, elasmobranch meat is sold as cação, and consumers are often unaware that cação refers to any type of elasmobranch. The present study used questionnaires to investigate the lay public’s knowledge of elasmobranch meat sold in a Brazilian city. Shoppers were surveyed at supermarkets in Curitiba, the largest city in southern Brazil. The study revealed that people do not link commercialized cação meat to sharks and rays (Elasmobranchii), with more than half of respondents who claimed to have already eaten cação did not think they had ever eaten shark or ray. The educational profile of interviewees suggests that this lack of knowledge may be even more common in other segments of Brazilian society. Therefore, we suggest that ecological information about elasmobranchs should be included in Brazilian elementary and high school curricula. Such a measure has the potential to modify behavior, create awareness, and stimulate responsibility throughout society, with the primary goal of reducing shark meat consumption and, ultimately, guaranteeing the long term conservation of marine resources.

Author Biographies

Hugo Bornatowski, Instituto de Pesca, Avenida Av. Bartolomeu de Gusmão, 192, Santos, São Paulo, 11030-906.

Hugo Bornatowski works with biology and ecology of elasmobranchs. His research is focused on food webs and trophic modelling.

Raul Rennó Braga, Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação, DEA, Setor de Tecnologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba 19020.

Raul Rennó Braga is a Ph.D. candidate conducting research on fish biology and ecology. He is particularly interested in aquatic invasions and trophic interactions.

Carolina Kalinowski, Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação, DEA, Setor de Tecnologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba 19020.

Carolina Kalinowski is an undergraduate student interested in studies of elasmobranchs.

Jean Ricardo Simões Vitule, Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação, DEA, Setor de Tecnologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba 19020.

Jean Ricardo Simões Vitule is professor of zoology at the Universidade Federal do Paraná. His research is focused fish ecology, especially aquatic invasions.

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Published
2015-11-18
How to Cite
Bornatowski, H., Braga, R. R., Kalinowski, C., & Vitule, J. R. S. (2015). “Buying a Pig in a Poke”: The Problem of Elasmobranch Meat Consumption in Southern Brazil. Ethnobiology Letters, 6(1), 196-202. https://doi.org/10.14237/ebl.6.1.2015.451
Section
Research Communications