Are American consumers to blame for the slaughter of hundreds of plankton-eating whale sharks in China?

That's the conclusion of at least some of the many media outlets, including the New York Times, that have covered the annual killing of an estimated 600 of the gentle giants by fishermen in the Chinese province of Zhejiang.

The sharks, which can grow up to 40 feet, or 12 meters, are so vulnerable to becoming extinct that most countries have outlawed catching them, but data supplied by the Hong Kong-based conservation group WildLifeRisk says the whale processing operation behind the annual hunt pays up to 200,000 yuan, or, $31,000, for each whale shark caught.

Every year, the factory exports upwards of 300 tons of oil extracted from the livers of whale, blue and basking sharks, a factory official, Li Guang, told WildLifeRisk in a video the conservation group has released to the media.

There is a growing demand throughout the world, but particularly in Western countries like the United States and Canada, for whale shark oil used in supplements and cosmetics, according to a report published by Times.

The Times report continues that the North American fish oil industry has boomed over the last 10 years, seeing U.S. consumers buying about $1.2 billion in fish oil supplements in 2013.

The product's growing popularity is a result of the heart benefits found in consuming omega-3 fatty acids, which fish oil contains. Fish oil has also been shown to promote improvements to brain and nerve tissue and health benefits for pregnant women and infants.

Besides fish oil products and cosmetics, whale shark is also sought for its fins, a delicacy in southern China called "shark lips," and meat that's also exported to many other markets around the world and often labeled as the cheaper bottom-feed fish tilapia, WildLifeRisk said.

Conservation advocates assert that if the world really wants to slow the mass killing of whale sharks, consumers of fish oil and shark meat will need to demand stricter labeling, although the fish oil industries in the both the U.S. and Canada are largely self-regulated, the Times report said.