27/06/2005 - WWF, The
Ocean Conservancy and Defenders of Wildlife
have applauded the adoption of an international
ban on shark finning by the Inter-American
Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).
Finning - the practice of slicing off a shark’s
fins and discarding the carcass - is driven
by the lucrative market for “shark fin soup”
and has sparked widespread public outcry.
The Shark Resolution, which also aims to
improve information about sharks in IATTC
fisheries, was co-sponsored by the United
States, the European Union, Japan and Nicaragua
and received vocal support from Costa Rica,
Panama, Ecuador and Mexico. The 15 IATTC Parties
adopted the final Resolution, pertaining primarily
to Eastern Pacific tuna fisheries, by consensus.
“We are elated that the IATTC has acted to
ban the wasteful practice of shark finning,
thereby taking a huge step towards safeguarding
some of the ocean’s more vulnerable animals,”
said Sonja Fordham, shark conservation specialist
for The Ocean Conservancy who spoke on behalf
of numerous conservation, scientific and fishing
organizations during the IATTC debate. “We
are grateful for continued U.S. leadership
in international shark conservation initiatives
and encouraged by the global momentum toward
addressing waste and depletion of sharks.”
The world’s first international prohibition
on shark finning was adopted last fall by
the sixty-three member countries of the International
Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic
Tunas (ICCAT), as part of a suite of shark
measures. The new IATTC Shark Resolution is
modeled after the ICCAT agreement; many of
the participating countries are active in
both Commissions. IATTC members and cooperating
nations with domestic finning prohibitions
include the United States, the European Union,
Costa Rica, Ecuador and Canada.
“The IATTC finning ban will do much to reduce
the needless killing of massive amounts of
blacktip, silky and blue sharks, to name a
few, that are caught in the region’s high
seas tuna fisheries. We are hopeful that today’s
action will help to stem declines in Pacific
shark populations, some of which are already
imperiled,” explained Kelly Malsch, International
Associate for Defenders of Wildlife. “Because
sharks serve as top predators, this IATTC
action is essential to keeping the Pacific
Ocean ecosystem in balance.”
Sharks are especially vulnerable to overfishing
because they grow slowly and produce few young.
The World Conservation (IUCN) Shark Specialist
Group (SSG) estimates that finning causes
the death of tens of millions of sharks worldwide
each year. Presently, the IATTC is the only
forum capable of providing international measures
for sharks in the Eastern Pacific, where some
of the world’s largest tuna and billfish fisheries
exist. The new Resolution mandates much-needed
shark data collection and assessment programs
while encouraging research into shark nursery
areas and ways to avoid incidental catch (“bycatch”)
of sharks.
“IATTC has taken a big step forward, but
sharks remain in peril all over the world,”
added Charlotte Mogensen, WWF's European Fisheries
Policy Officer. “We urge other Regional Fishery
Management Organizations and shark fishing
nations to adopt not only finning bans, but
requirements for shark data collection, bycatch
reduction and precautionary limits. The success
of the IATTC Resolution will hinge on effective
monitoring, enforcement, follow-up management
and consistent measures in adjacent seas.”
The IATTC Shark Resolution includes a call
for countries to implement National Plans
of Action for shark conservation in accordance
with the United Nations Food and Agricultural
Organization 1999 International Plan of Action
for Sharks. Thus far, few countries have developed
shark NPOAs and there are still no international
limits on shark catch.
