RIO DE JANEIRO — The government of the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro has banned shark meat for meals in most of the schools it manages, citing health and environmental concerns. The move puts the state in line to become the first in Brazil to do so, and has drawn accolades from shark conservation and health advocates, on the one hand, and criticism from the seafood industry, on the other. “The suspension was based on technical, scientific, health, and environmental grounds … complying with the principle of precaution and comprehensive protection of children” as required under the Constitution and the guidelines of the National School Feeding Program, the state department of education told Mongabay in an emailed statement on Jan. 8. It said the decision to ban shark meat in school meals rested on evidence from the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, a research institute affiliated with Brazil’s health ministry. Effective since Oct. 23, 2025, the shark meat ban was enacted through an administrative guideline emailed that day to the 1,200 schools run by the Rio de Janeiro state education department. These schools account for 95% of all schools managed by the state. The ban doesn’t apply to the roughly 10,400 other schools in the state that are managed by municipalities or private institutions. The guideline, seen by Mongabay, was signed by the education department’s food safety coordinator, Lívia Ribera Souza. It cited a technical note from marine…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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