By Brook Larios

“Shark!,” to those lackadaisically loafing in the water, sounds like a death sentence. To some eaters, the connotation is nearly as heavy.

For years we’ve been told not to consume shark – that its populations are rapidly dwindling. Meanwhile, we’ve poured our attention onto salmon and tuna, which, by the way, harbor their own challenges.

In late 2011, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill that prohibits the sale, purchase and possession of shark fins, used in shark fin soup — a delicacy in Chinese cuisine. The Chinese culture has always nobly emphasized eating all parts of the animal, so emphasizing the fin seems at odds with the culture.

“The practice of cutting the fins off of living sharks and dumping them back in the ocean,” he wrote in a public message, “is not only cruel, but it harms the health of our oceans.”

True – and a just move on Brown’s part. The overwhelming amount of press about shark fin soup alerted us to the cruel act of shark finning, but arguably also raised the stigma of consuming shark. The next step, perhaps, should have been educating people about the merits of eating the whole animal.

Chef Gordon Ramsay of Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares embarked upon a journey to China, where eating shark fin soup is a symbol of status. He found a massive, rooftop shark fin graveyard, where he noted each fin would be sold for over ten times the price of the whole shark. Later, he journeyed on a Costa Rican fishing vessel, containing fin upon fin, but no sign of the whole shark. In fact, the vessel’s fishermen were using the body meat of a thresher as bait. (Note: finning is illegal in Costa Rica).

The topic of shark fishing came up during a recent dinner with Tommy Gomes, the face of Catalina Offshore Products — a San Diego company that sources fresh seafood from primarily local fishermen and sells it wholesale and to the public. A throwback to the vibrant fishing industry of San Diego yesteryears, Gomes’ career in fishing – and his relationships with the very people who catch our aquatic-bred food – make him what I consider a trusted source in seafood. He’s in support of consuming thresher shark, now considered a “good alternative” on the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch List, and is now selling it to several Uptown restaurants and directly to the public during Catalina’s walk-in hours.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch List, largely considered the platinum standard by environmentally and socially conscious chefs and eaters, recently transitioned both wild-caught California and Hawaii common thresher and shortfin mako sharks from species to “avoid” to “good alternatives” after finding the species are managed responsibly in Pacific waters.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the nation’s marine fishery service, provides the Seafood Watch Department with much of the data that determines where on the list species fall, according to Ken Peterson, spokesperson for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Other species of shark, however, are critically overfished, thus categorized as those to avoid. Unlike their shark counterparts, which mature slowly, common threshers and shortfin mako grow and mature reasonably fast, contributing to their sustainability ratings.

Then there’s the issue of bycatch, a serious problem in commercial fishing. Fish species, some never finding a place on a hungry man’s plate, are trapped in trawls, or large nets, pulled through the water behind commercial boats, of which shrimping is one of the worst offenders. Most of these fish are disposed of, never to be garnished with a piece of frisée or wedge of lemon. Sharks commonly fall victim to these nets.

According to Carrie Wilson, Associate Marine Biologist and spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Game, sharks are valuable and, with exception of blue, are sold for food at high prices, rather than being wasted.

Don Kelly, patrol captain for the California Department of Fish and Game, however, emphasized that shark fins are, indeed, valued higher than the entire shark, which is also more of a hassle to bring in, thereby making finning a more profitable and glamorous option.

Restaurants and companies like Catalina Offshore Products that seek the whole thresher or shortfin mako shark are, therefore, helping sustainability efforts. As consumers, we should purchase their shark, demonstrating to the world that there is a demand for all parts of the animal.