Sharks in the Ecological Sphere of East Asia

By Anna Lisa Beck

Supervisor: Dr. Gesa Lüdecke

Over a decade ago, when I was an avid scuba diver and arguably in the bloom of my youth, I came across the issue of shark conservation. Sharks were then, and still are, one of the most endangered species in the world. The reason for this is a combination of environmental factors and pollution, hunting and trading cycles, and their generally low fertility. In addition to these factors, many news outlets that circulate in popular culture typically frame sharks as dangerous beasts lurking in the depths of the ocean, waiting for their prey. While sharks – as all animals to some degree – can be perilous in some contexts, the public’s perception of these animals is often deeply misguided. I dedicated my final project to sharks in the ecological sphere of East Asia, so I could improve the general understanding of sharks and draw attention to their marvelous nature and their unfortunate circumstances.

In my project, I first illustrate some of the current threats to shark populations in the region. Secondly, I summarise how sharks are utilised in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the earliest surviving sources stemming from the Chinese Materia Medica (Bencao gangmu). I close with a discussion of “human strength” and its destructive tendencies – in this case regarding sharks.

The Chinese Materia Medica offers an interesting overview of the health benefits attributed to sharks. It is also riddled with terminological imperfections, which is why I was never fully convinced, if the animal I was reading about actually was a shark – or maybe a catfish, an abalone, a carp or a goldfish. Either way, TCM has been utilising these fish for centuries, their medicinal purposes reaching from “curing a common cold” to “balancing the cosmic forces of yin and yang”.

My project taught me a lot about sharks – which honestly continue to overwhelm me with their complexity and variety – and TCM. I have also come across some interesting parallels between the Chinese cosmological order, some medicinal traditions, the seemingly universal “struggle between humanity and nature,” and modern consumption patterns. I will try and get to the bottom of the deep, deep sea surrounding the realities of sharks in the ecological sphere of East Asia, but I am happy and grateful that my final project of the Environmental Studies Certificate Programme proved to be a steppingstone!