Brussels, 09/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 9 October, the International Organisation for the Protection of the Oceans - Oceana - called for the adoption of radical measures to reduce the number of shark by-catches and put a stop to the discarding of these fish into the sea.
In a report published the same day, Oceana explained that due to these by-catches and discards, current catches of blue sharks in the Atlantic can be up to five times higher than the reported catches. In 2004 European boats declared that they had caught 143,996 metric tonnes of sharks in the Atlantic. The report explains that most of these catches were made by purse seiner fisheries, and shark by-catch in these fisheries can total up to 1,500 metric tonnes. The organisation estimates that some fisheries are contributing to the extinction of the threatened species, particularly Italian boats in the Mediterranean using illegal driftnets, as well as the Dutch mega-trawlers fishing off the West African coast.
Oceana is calling on the EU to adopt new shark protection measures (as well as the regulation banning the cutting off of fins on boats followed by the discarding of the trunks into the sea, EUROPE 9255): - introduction of management measures for reducing shark by-catches; implementation of a ban on shark by-catches being discarded into the sea (including the closure of certain zones or areas where shark-by catches are too high); implementation of quotas on catches for shark species that are used and sold by Community boats. Oceana is also calling for better controls on shark fishing (on-board observers) and implementation of a European action plan for sharks.
The Oceana report on shark by-catches can be found at: (http: //oceana.org/fileadmin/oceana/uploads/europe/reports/Treated_As_Trash.pdf). (lc)