Pet food containing endangered sharks is being fed to cats and dogs by unwitting owners, a study has revealed. The Guardian and Express reported that Scientists found that several brands contained endangered species but listed only vague ingredients such as “ocean fish”, meaning that consumers are often oblivious.

The findings are published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.

“The majority of pet owners are likely lovers of nature, and we think most would be alarmed to discover that they could be unknowingly contributing to the overfishing of shark populations,” said the study authors, Ben Wainwright and Ian French, of Yale-NUS College, Singapore.

Shark populations are overfished throughout the world, with declines of more than 70% in the past 50 years. As apex predators they are crucial for the balance of the ocean food chain, and the loss of sharks has had knock-on effects on seagrass beds and coral reefs.

The sale of shark fins has been widely publicised. But a silent contributor, the authors say, is the use of shark products in everyday items such as pet food and cosmetics.

Using DNA barcoding, the scientists tested 45 pet food products from 16 brands in Singapore. Most products used generic terms such as “fish”, “ocean fish”, “white bait” or “white fish” in the ingredients list to describe their contents, with some specifically listing tuna or salmon. Others did not indicate fish at all.

In other news, it has been revealed in an International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) report that European countries dominate half of Asian shark fin trade. Despite nearly a third of shark species nearing extinction, Spain supplied 51,000 tonnes of shark fins from 2003-20, says IFAW.

And finally, in an earlier news item we highlighted the more positive story of a project to safeguard some of the rarest marine species in Wales, including sharks.