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MARINE LIFE
Could manufacturing a COVID-19 vaccine pose a threat to sharks ? MacDonald and Saul Study Summary
While squalene made from shark liver oil is indeed sometimes used in vaccines , recent claims that this represents a major shark conservation issue are at best oversimplified , and at worst fear-mongering that distracts from real issues . Yes , some squalene is made with shark liver oil . But this does not mean that we are particularly likely to see the mass slaughter of sharks to meet the demand for squalene for COVID-19 vaccines . The biggest shark conservation concern raised by a recently published Macdonald and Soll analysis is that deep sea sharks contain more liver oil but are also more susceptible to overfishing pressure . Intensification of deep-sea shark fisheries will indeed be a problem , but there is currently no evidence that this is happening . It is also important to note here that the use of shark liver oil in making vaccines does not necessarily mean the death of many sharks that would not have been killed otherwise . As the paper ' s author Catherine MacDonald pointed out in her FAQ , about 100 million sharks are caught each year in current fisheries , and we can get a lot of squalene from them . Perhaps most importantly , you can get squalene of the same pharmaceutical quality at roughly the same cost from plants . It takes a little longer so we have to start now . The authors assert that this does not mean at all that sharks are more important than humans in a public health crisis ; This means we can protect biodiversity while also saving human lives if we plan ahead a little bit .
Diventures Magazine November 2020