Mongabay recently published an investigation revealing widespread Brazilian government purchases of shark meat to feed schoolchildren, hospital patients, prisoners and more. The series has generated public debate in the South American country, which, perhaps surprisingly, is the world’s largest consumer and importer of shark meat. The procurements raise concerns because sharks are being overfished — globally, their populations in the open ocean have declined by an estimated 71% over the past half-century — and their meat tends to contain high levels of heavy metals, which can be especially dangerous for young children, pregnant and nursing mothers, and other vulnerable groups. As part of the research, we spent months combing through dozens of websites where Brazilian government agencies are legally required to publish their procurement records. It was challenging work, hunting down droplets of relevant data cataloged with inconsistent search terms across multiple obscure portals. In this article, we’ll tell you how we went about it in hopes of inspiring and easing the way for other journalists and researchers to continue this line of inquiry. Because it was also richly rewarding: We uncovered 1,012 shark meat tenders issued since 2004, and identified 5,900 public institutions — preschools, homeless shelters, maternity wards, military bases, elderly care facilities, governor’s residences, and more — that potentially received shark meat as part of these procurements. (Brazil-based Mongabay reporters Karla Mendes and Fernanda Wenzel also played key roles in the investigation, following up leads on the ground turned up by our data work.) The impetus for…This article was originally published on Mongabay

From Conservation news via this RSS feed