{"id":2206473,"date":"2024-09-13T18:17:56","date_gmt":"2024-09-13T09:17:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2206473"},"modified":"2024-09-16T18:18:33","modified_gmt":"2024-09-16T09:18:33","slug":"in-south-korea-shark-meat-is-tradition-but-the-oceans-cant-keep-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/09\/in-south-korea-shark-meat-is-tradition-but-the-oceans-cant-keep-up\/","title":{"rendered":"In South Korea, shark meat is tradition \u2014 but the oceans can\u2019t keep up"},"content":{"rendered":"
The aroma of grilled fish and savory pancakes wafts through a crowded market in South Korea\u2019s southeast, where vendors call out prices and customers weave through the narrow aisles. Amid the mackerel and octopus lie slabs of dombaegi \u2014 shark meat.<\/span><\/p>\n In the coastal Gyeongsang Province, dombaegi remains a beloved regional delicacy as families across South Korea prepare for chuseok, the country\u2019s mid-autumn harvest festival. During this time, families gather to honor their ancestors with special foods and rituals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But the cultural significance of dombaegi now clashes with a troubling reality: the global decline of shark populations.<\/span><\/p>\n Last week, <\/span>Korea Pro<\/span><\/i> uncovered the sale of several endangered shark species at the Jukdo market in Pohang, a port city where the delicacy holds particular popularity. This discovery exposes the tension between preserving cultural heritage and protecting marine ecosystems. But it also hints at a potentially thriving black market for shark meat.<\/span><\/p>\n TRADITION VS CONSERVATION<\/b><\/p>\n South Korea\u2019s shark meat tradition stretches back centuries. Archaeological findings suggest the practice <\/span>dates<\/span><\/a> to the Three Kingdoms Period (57 BCE to 668 CE). Some families <\/span>believe<\/span><\/a> offering dombaegi during ancestral rites (charye) brings powerful blessings to future generations.<\/span><\/p>\n But the culinary tradition now faces a global ecological crisis. \u201cSharks are under threat like never before,\u201d Brendon Sing, director of Shark Guardian, a shark conservation charity, told <\/span>Korea Pro<\/span><\/i>. Sing noted that 37% of shark species are on the brink of extinction.<\/span><\/p>\n In South Korea, however, shark conservation laws lag behind the crisis. Doohyun Park of the nonprofit Ocean Outcomes told <\/span>Korea Pro<\/span><\/i> that out of 49 shark species observed in ROK waters, \u201c57% of them have international conservation status.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Yet, the country\u2019s Fisheries Resources Management Act <\/span>protects<\/span><\/a> only two of the dozens of shark species the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists as endangered: the scalloped hammerhead and the whale shark. Enforcement of even these limited protections appears lax.<\/span><\/p>\n