Shark populations worldwide have been threatened by the demand for shark fins, with tens of millions of the animals killed each year to make a soup prized by Asian consumers.

Since many sharks travel the globe on their own — and others are caught and transported across oceans to shark-fin markets — conservationists face a problem: how to pinpoint where particular sharks were born.

Now scientists have an answer. By examining genetic material that a mother passes to her offspring, they can say with precision where a given shark was born. In doing so, they can identify the extent to which certain endangered species are being targeted for the shark-fin trade.

“By analyzing part of the genome that is inherited solely through the mother, we were able to detect differences between sharks living along different continents — in effect, their DNA ZIP codes,” said Demian Chapman, who led the research team and serves as assistant director of science for Stony Brook University’s Institute for Ocean Conservation Science. “This research shows that adult females faithfully give birth along the continental region where they were born.”

The researchers — who come from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Peru and New Zealand — took tissue samples from nearly 400 dusky and copper sharks. The animals came from fishing boats, research cruises and beach meshing nets as well as from markets in Hong Kong, the global trading center for shark fins.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies the dusky shark population off the East Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico as endangered because it has declined by more than 80 percent over the past two decades even though it has been protected since 2000. Globally, the copper shark is listed as “near threatened” by the nature union.

While the DNA method of analysis could help authorities curb finning — in which vessel operators typically slice off a shark’s fin and toss the body overboard because shark meat is much less valuable — it also highlights the challenge of restoring a depleted shark population to health.

“Here in the United States, it took only a few decades to nearly wipe out our dusky sharks, and it will probably take a few centuries for their stocks to be replenished,” said Martin Benavides, who was lead author of two journal articles on the DNA study and serves as a research assistant at the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science. “The sight of a dusky shark swimming off our shores will be a rare experience for generations to come.”


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