A Mongabay exposé that revealed widespread Brazilian government procurements of shark meat to serve in thousands of schools, hospitals, prisons and other public institutions has won first place in the higher education category of Brazil’s National Association of Directors of Federal Higher Education Institutions (Andifes) awards, a top journalism education honor in the country. “The work stands out for its expert input from specialists and researchers, who contribute to the analysis of the environmental, health and regulatory impacts of the issue,” Andifes said in the Feb. 24 announcement. “By valuing scientific knowledge in its journalistic approach, the report highlights the role of higher education in producing evidence, training specialists and contributing to public debate and public policy.” In collaboration with the Pulitzer Center, the investigation published in July 2025 tracked 1,012 public tenders issued by Brazilian authorities since 2004 for the procurement of more than 5,400 metric tons of shark meat, worth at least 112 million reais ($21.8 million today). These tenders were issued by 542 municipalities in 10 of Brazil’s 26 states, raising environmental and public health concerns. Senior editor Philip Jacobson and investigative reporters Karla Mendes and Fernanda Wenzel were the Mongabay authors of the two-part investigation, along with Kuang Keng Kuek Ser, the Pulitzer Center’s data editor. As apex predators, sharks’ tissues tend to accumulate high levels of heavy metals like mercury and arsenic, which can harm human health if ingested in large enough quantities, especially in young children and other vulnerable populations. Overfishing both for shark…This article was originally published on Mongabay

From Conservation news via this RSS feed