Viva! 8 York Court Wilder Street Bristol BS2 8QH Tel: 0117 944 1000 Fax: 0117 924 4646 email: media@viva.org.uk	18 August 1999 Viva! victory as Holland & Barrett drop shark cartilage Viva! campaigners celebrated today as Holland & Barrett announced their decision to stop selling shark cartilage capsules. The company say that “...due to current availability problems we are having to discontinue the sale of this product”. The announcement follows a sustained 4 month long campaign by Viva!, who believe that by selling the cartilage, Holland and Barrett are endorsing cruel killing methods and placing pressure on vulnerable shark populations. Shark cartilage is alleged to help treat human afflictions ranging from arthritis and joint problems to cancer. Viva! found no evidence of clinical studies to support these claims. Last month health chain GNC announced that they were delisting the product because it has “little or no health benefits”. Holland and Barrett say that the shark cartilage is sourced from the spiny dogfish (squalus acanthias) - also known as rock salmon or huss. Despite not being officially classed as endangered, spiny dogfish are under threat worldwide. They are slow to reproduce, which makes them particularly vulnerable to overfishing. The Shark Trust estimate that numbers in Europe has halved during the last 10 years. In the USA, the Northwest Atlantic spiny dogfish population has been declared “overfished”. Dogfish are caught with trawler nets, seine nets, sink gill nets or deep longlines. “Each of these methods will cause suffering to the sharks”, says Viva! Campaigner Becky Smith. “Fish caught in a trawler’s huge net are often crushed under the weight of other fish. Those that live may be blinded by exposure to daylight when they are hauled up from the ocean.” “Holland and Barrett have been making money on the back of a series of rumours about the benefits of shark cartilage”, she continues. “We’re thrilled that they are finally listening to the views of their vegetarian customers - many of whom prefer to shop in health food shops because they assume that these stores will have higher ethical standards than supermarkets. We’ll be lobbying the company to ensure that this decision is a permanent one. ” ___________________________________________   More information from Becky Smith or Lesley Jeavons on 0117 944 1000