Shark Safe Cosmetics - Shark Liver Oil Squalene

• How many sharks in this bottle?
  
  
  
  
  Photo courtesy of JDM Gordon
  
  
  
  Endangered Deep Water Sharks Killed for their liver oil.
  
  
  Marketers claim that these sharks:
  "are not killed specifically to produce Squalane. It is virtually impossible for the commercial fishing industry to catch orange roughy any other way, and what was once left as waste in the ocean (the sharks) is now used for useful human purposes."
  
  Here's what deep sea trawling for orange roughy does:
  
  
  
  
  Orange roughy live up to 150 years, but their population has declined by an estimated 90% because of intensive bottom trawling. The unintended bycatch of this fishery is around 50%, including endangered deep water sharks and protected species such as Australian fur seals. Orange roughy also carry consumption warnings due to high levels of mercury.
  
  Issues:
  
  Squalene is a product derived from shark liver oil that is used in many cosmetic products. The oil is effective as a moisturizer, as is any oil, but it does not offer any advantages over sustainable plant based alternatives. Many of the sharks targeted for their liver oil are threatened species.
  
  Goals:
  
  1. Educate retailers and persuade them to stop selling shark based squalene (with an "e") products and switch to true squalane (with an "a") from plant sources. Shark liver oil companies sometimes call their product squalane, saying that it is a refined version of squalene, so the terms can be very confusing. If the product lists squalane as an ingredient and doesn't specify plant-based squalane or that it contains no animal products, then there's a very good chance that it's shark liver oil.
  
  2. Educate consumers about the environmental issues associated with buying products that use shark liver oil.
  
  3. Contact manufacturers of cosmetics that use shark-based squalene, and persuade them to switch to plant-based ingredients in their products.
  
  Action Plan:
  
  Materials:
  
  Additional Information and Resources:
  
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