Are we facing a new shark threat?

Rick Stein, the seafood chef, is being targeted by conservationists over his recipes that encourage people to eat shark meat, writes Jon Ungoed-Thomas. Pressure group Bite Back is urging Stein to stop promoting the fish as an exotic meal. The campaigners claim his "shark vindaloo" recipe is encouraging a boom in consumption of species that are endangered.

Many supermarkets have stopped selling shark, but fish and chip shops serve it and it is widely available in fish markets.

Conservationists claim more than 100m are taken from the sea each year and many species are being killed faster than they can reproduce.

Graham Buckingham of Bite Back said: "More people are eating shark than ever before, but you can?t farm them and it?s difficult to reverse the damage that?s done by over-fishing."

Stein was not available for comment. There are no shark dishes on offer at his restaurants.