Brussels, 18/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 21 November, the European Commission is to adopt a proposal aimed at reinforcing the 2003 rules banning the practice of “finning”, which consists of removing shark fins, often while the shark is still alive, and throwing the rest of the shark back into the sea.
A number of loopholes in the legislation to protect sharks has limited the effectiveness of the ban on shark finning on board vessels. The Commission is now proposing to put an end to such loopholes in the legislation and decree a total ban on the finning practice. The aim of the new rules is to better protect vulnerable shark populations across the world's oceans.
The current regulation prohibits the removal of shark fins on board vessels but special permits for on-board processing may be issued by exemption. The current regulation allows for landings of fins and carcasses in separate ports, at separate times, and monitoring of this is extremely difficult. In an attempt to ensure that no finning has occurred, a fin-to-carcass weight ratio has been established. The weight of the fins kept from the catch shall never exceed the theoretical weight of the fins that would correspond to the remaining parts of sharks retained on board, transhipped or landed. In no case shall the theoretical weight of the fins exceed 5% of the live weight of the shark catch.
Due to their characteristics of slow growth, late maturity and a small number of young, shark populations are particularly vulnerable to overfishing and take a long time to recover from depletion. (LC/transl.jl)