COVID-19 has impacted millions of people worldwide. As the world enters a second wave of this pandemic, the race to develop a safe vaccine is at the forefront of political and public discourse and now includes the seemingly unrelated realm of conservation. Human health is of top priority around the world, but what about the health of marine life?
The debate has been going on between conservationists on the use of squalene compounds derived from shark liver oil for COVID-19 vaccines. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that “Squalene is a component of some adjuvants that are added to vaccines to enhance the immune response”. For the entire world population to have one dose of the vaccine, a quarter million sharks will be killed according to the non-profit organization Shark Allies. If two doses are needed? Double the number of sharks killed, at half a million. This could lead to detrimental effects on aquatic ecosystem functions and further worsen the biodiversity crisis we are facing.
As with top predators in all ecosystems, sharks play a vital role in maintaining balance within the trophic system. By inflicting mortality upon prey, sharks can change and manage the structure and function of marine communities. Some of the ecosystem functions and services that are connected to sharks are regulating food webs, nutrient cycling, habitat engineering, reducing infectious diseases (by reducing prey density specifically those that are sick and old thereby limiting transmission), mediating ecological invasions, affecting the climate by preying on aquatic herbivores, supporting local fisheries and coastal community food systems, generating tourism (shark diving), and providing bioinspiration material (hydro-dynamic swimming suits)[1][2]. These functions and services could face devastating impacts as a result of declining shark populations for COVID-19 vaccines.
The existence of a relationship between climate change and shark populations is not explicit at first. Sharks play a major role in limiting the consumption of seagrass and algae from aquatic herbivores like green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas), herbivorous fish, and dugongs (Dugong dugon)), thereby increasing CO2 uptake and fostering higher sediment carbon stocks[3]. As some of the most vulnerable and carbon rich ecosystems on Earth, vegetated coastal habitats (that is, salt marshes, seagrass meadows and mangroves) facilitate blue carbon storage. Hence, the interconnectedness between protecting sharks and the herbivores they prey upon, and the resulting blue carbon ecosystems as a key natural solution to climate change.
Stefanie Brendl, founder and executive director of Shark Allies, said: "Harvesting something from a wild animal is never going to be sustainable, especially if it's a top predator that doesn't reproduce in huge numbers”. Killing aquatic predators like sharks will have potentially devastating impacts on ecosystem function and climate change solutions.
There are many plant-based alternatives to squalene sourced from shark liver oil such as olive oil, bacteria, and possible algae. Experts should be conscious about the source of squalene for vaccinations. Support by signing the petition made by Shark Allies: http://chng.it/qj2sDRbtd6.
#SharkFreeVaccines
[1] Hammerschlag, Neil, Oswald J. Schmitz, Alexander S. Flecker, Kevin D. Lafferty, Andrew Sih, Trisha B. Atwood, Austin J. Gallagher, Duncan J. Irschick, Rachel Skubel, and Steven J. Cooke. “Ecosystem Function and Services of Aquatic Predators in the Anthropocene.” Trends in Ecology & Evolution 34, no. 4 (2019): 369–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2019.01.005.
[2] Ferretti, Francesco, Boris Worm, Gregory L. Britten, Michael R. Heithaus, and Heike K. Lotze. “Patterns and Ecosystem Consequences of Shark Declines in the Ocean.” Ecology Letters 13 (2010): 1055–71. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01489.x.
[3] Atwood, Trisha B., Rod M. Connolly, Euan G. Ritchie, Catherine E. Lovelock, Michael R. Heithaus, Graeme C. Hays, James W. Fourqurean, and Peter I. Macreadie. “Predators Help Protect Carbon Stocks in Blue Carbon Ecosystems.” Nature Climate Change 5, no. 12 (September 28, 2015): 1038–45. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2763.
This article was written and submitted by Rayan Kassem, Y4N’s Regional Director for West Asia.