Oceana criticises 2008 shark quota

OCEANA, the international conservation organisation today voiced disappointment at the European Commission’s proposals for 2008 shark quotas.

The agreement of appropriate Total Allowable Catches (TACs) and fishing quotas are crucial in ensuring sustainable fisheries,Oceana underline and they were hoping to see precautionary limits proposed for threatened shark species, some of which represent a significant portion of the total catch of European fishing fleets.

Among the many species for which quotas were proposed, two shark species were included – the spurdog (Squalus acanthias) and the porbeagle shark (Lamna nasus). Although a reduction in catches was proposed for spurdog, an increase relative to last year’s proposal was proposed for porbeagle. Oceana says it is concerned for these already overexploited shark species. For years, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), which draws together over 1,600 European scientists, has given scientific advice to the EU for the correct management of fish stocks. For both the porbeagle and spurdog, ICES’ latest advice has been for zero catches.

“For decades, many shark species, among them the spurdog, porbeagle and various deep-sea sharks, have been directly targeted for their meat, valuable fins and even liver oil,” says Xavier Pastor, executive director of Oceana Europe.

“Nevertheless, in spite of their vulnerability, very few species are managed with proper and consistent science-based fishing limits,” he adds.

The Commission has proposed to allow 2,752 tons of by-catches for spurdog. While this represents a 25% decrease from last year’s TACs, it is still,says Oceana, well above the scientific recommendations and endangers already threatened populations. The spurdog is a small bottom-living species that is exceptionally slow-growing and very late to mature, making it vulnerable to exploitation. Years of overfishing, to satisfy the constant European demand for its meat, especially in the UK, Germany, Belgium, France and Italy, have made the Northeast Atlantic stock one of the most depleted in the world.

For years, scientists had warned that the North East Atlantic stock is in danger of collapse and that targeted fisheries for this species should not be permitted, and that a zero TAC should be established for the North East Atlantic.

In addition, the Commission had proposed a TAC of 422 tons for porbeagle. While Oceana welcomes the Commission’s second attempt in two years to manage this species, the proposal nonetheless ignores the scientific advice for this species. The porbeagle shark, a highly migratory species closely related to the great white shark, is also exceptionally slow-growing and late to mature, making it consequently vulnerable to overfishing.

FishUpdate

Nov. 30, 2007