96% of Spaniards eat shark meat without even knowing it according to a study published today by the international ecology organisation 'Shark Alliance'.

The study, which polled of 802 people aged between 15 and 75 in various parts of the country, shows that 76.4% of those surveyed didn't know that both 'cazón' and 'marrajo' belong to the shark family (tope and short fin mako shark respectively) and only 7.1% knew that there were fishing restrictions on both of these species.

Only 7.8% of those surveyed knew that the Spanish fishing fleet was one of the five biggest fleets in the world and that it trades in shark fins.

These survey results have been published along with a report from Shark Alliance member SUBMON, entitled - 'Spain: A Driving Force in Shark Fishing around the World', that warns of the dangers of wrongly labelling fish products derived from these species.

The report  found that the mislabelling and renaming of shark products within Spain is widespread and likely responsible for the discrepancy between people expressing the desire to abstain from shark meat and yet consuming it under other guises.

'Spanish fishermen catch more sharks than those from any other European country while the Spanish government is increasingly out of touch with its citizens’ views on protecting shark populations,' said Sandrine Polti of the Shark Alliance.
 
SUBMON is pushing for more measures to protect the most vulnerable and endangered species of shark, the imposition of tighter restrictions to keep fisheries sustainable, along with proper labelling and identification.