A shark sanctuary is an area that forbids commercial fishing operations from targeting and retaining caught sharks, including their fins. The first shark sanctuary was created by Palau in 2009. It was followed by Maldives, Honduras, The Bahamas and Tokelau.
Every year, fishermen pull "up to 73 million" [1] or "some 100 million" sharks from the world's oceans. [2] The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that more than half of shark species are overexploited or depleted. [3] Globally, 21% of shark species whose extinction risk has been assessed fall into the "threatened" categories, and 18% are "near threatened", while 35% lack sufficient data to decide, leaving 26% in the unthreatened category.
The search for shark fins drives the illegal hunting trade. Some jurisdictions permit fishing for fins and food. Sharks are also caught as bycatch when fishing for marlin, tuna and other varieties. [2]
Sharks generally reach sexual maturity only after several years of life and produce very few offspring in comparison to other harvested fish. Harvesting sharks before they reproduce has severe impacts on future populations.
Many nations restrict shark catches and shark finning.
Palau created the world's first so-named "shark sanctuary" on September 25, 2009. [2] [4] Palau forbids all commercial shark fishing within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) waters. The sanctuary protects about 600,000 square kilometres (230,000 sq mi) of ocean, [2] an area similar to the country of France. [5] [6] [7] [8] President Johnson Toribiong made the announcement at a meeting of the United Nations. [6] [9] [10] President Toribiong also requested a worldwide ban on shark fishing. [6] Palau is home to 135 endangered or vulnerable shark and ray species. [11]
The Maldives created a sanctuary in March, 2010. [12] Tokelau declared its entire EEZ a shark sanctuary in 2011. [13]
On February 25, 2011, Guam, a US island territory, voted to ban commerce in fins. Guam's Senate passed a bill banning the sale, possession and distribution of the fins. [14]
In August, 2011, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Guam announced plans to join Palau in a region-wide sanctuary that covers 2,000,000 square miles (5,200,000 km2) of ocean. [15]
Kiribati, another Pacific island state, and the US operate Earth's largest marine reserve. [2]
Honduras prohibited the taking of sharks in its national waters as of February 2010. [1]
The U.S. bans shark finning on all U.S.-flagged vessels, forbids the taking 19 species of sharks including white, whale, and basking sharks and shares lists of illegal vessels with established fishing companies, helping them report illegal activities. The U.S. also assesses the health of many of its shark populations and includes sharks in its various Fishery Management Plans. [16] Hawaii has banned the sale and possession of shark fins. The states of California, Oregon and Washington are considering similar bans. [17]
In 1991 South Africa became the first country in the world to declare great white sharks a legally protected species. [18]
In February 2009, the European Commission proposed first-ever shark conservation rules for European waters, although these are not outright bans. EU countries account for one-third of global shark meat exports.
Shark steaks are increasingly served in restaurants. Shark parts are also used in lotions and leather sports shoes. [11]
Taiwan banned shark finning in 2012. [19]
Israel - All elasmobranchs are fully protected in Israel's territorial waters, in the Mediterranean Sea and in the Gulf of Aqaba (northeastern Red Sea), since 2005, making these effective shark sanctuaries.
After reaching about 0.9 million tonnes in 2003, catches of the “sharks, rays and chimaeras” group declined to 0.75 million tonnes in 2006, a drop of 15 percent., [20] numbering some 100 million fish. [21]
| Country | Capture (2000) [22] |
|---|---|
 Indonesia | 112,000 |
 Spain | 77,300 |
 India | 72,100 |
 Pakistan | 51,200 |
 Taiwan | 45,900 |
 Mexico | 35,300 |
 Japan | 33,100 |
 USA | 30,900 |
 Sri Lanka | 28,000 |
 Argentina | 25,700 |
 Malaysia | 24,500 |
 France | 22,800 |
 Brazil | 18,500 |
 New Zealand | 17,700 |
 Great Britain | 17,400 |
 Thailand | 16,200 |
 Peru | 15,400 |
 South Korea | 15,400 |
 Maldives | 13,500 |
 Canada | 13,500 |
 Nigeria | 13,200 |
 Senegal | 10,800 |
 Portugal | 9,100 |
 Australia | 8,100 |
| Total | 828,400 |
Sharks are a common seafood in many places around the world, including China (shark-fin soup), Japan, Australia (fish and chips under the name flake), in India (under the name sora in Tamil language and Telugu language), and Icelanders eat Greenland sharks as hákarl.
The practice of live finning, where a fisherman removes the fin with a hot metal blade and releases the dying animal occurs with some frequency, [21] but is not a prevalent practice, with most fins taken with the entire animal. [23] Around 80% of shark fins are derived as accidental by-catch, which are quickly sold to the market due to their high price. [23] Shark finning has become a major trade within black markets all over the world with shark fins going at about $300/lb in 2009. [24]
European consumers consume dogfishes, smoothhounds, catsharks, makos, porbeagle and also skates and rays. [25] However, the U.S. FDA recommends that children and women who are or may be pregnant should refrain from eating shark. For details see mercury in fish.
In the East Asian region, use of shark cartilage in preparing soups is considered a health tonic. Hong Kong imports it from North and South American countries, particularly for use in either a cooked format or to prepare boiled soup, as a health fad, by mixing it with herbals supplements.
Another large demand for shark cartilage is for manufacture of "Shark Cartilage Powder" or pills as a cure for cancer. The anti cancer claims of such powders marketed in many parts of the world has been discounted by the US Food and Drug Administration, Federal Trade Commissions and medical studies. [26] In spite of such injunctions, the trade in this powder continues and the shark cartilage powder is still widely marketed as a cancer cure, stated to be selling at US$145 per gram. [27] It is also stated that in Costa Rica, one single firm alone processed 235,000 sharks every month to manufacture cartilage pills. [27]
Seafood Watch recommends that everyone avoid eating shark. [28]
The majority of shark fisheries around the globe have little monitoring or management. With the rise in demand for shark products there is a greater pressure on fisheries. [29] Sharks experience a long interval between birth and sexual maturity, such that many sharks never reach maturity. In some species, populations have declined by over 90% over the past 20–30 years with decline of 70% not unusual. [30]
The practice of shark finning, attracts much controversy and regulations are being enacted to prevent it from occurring. The acclaimed 2007 documentary, Sharkwater exposed how sharks are being hunted to extinction, in part due to the massive Asian demand for shark fin soup. [31]
Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific. The republic consists of approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caroline Islands with parts of the Federated States of Micronesia. It has a total area of 466 square kilometers (180 sq mi), making it one of the smallest countries in the world. The most populous island is Koror, home to the country's most populous city of the same name. The capital Ngerulmud is located on the largest island of Babeldaob, in Melekeok State. Palau shares maritime boundaries with international waters to the north, the Federated States of Micronesia to the east, Indonesia to the south, and the Philippines to the northwest.
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorpha and are the sister group to the Batoidea. Some sources extend the term "shark" as an informal category including extinct members of Chondrichthyes with a shark-like morphology, such as hybodonts. Shark-like chondrichthyans such as Cladoselache and Doliodus first appeared in the Devonian Period, though some fossilized chondrichthyan-like scales are as old as the Late Ordovician. The earliest confirmed modern sharks (selachimorphs) are known from the Early Jurassic around 200 million years ago, with the oldest known member being Agaleus, though records of true sharks may extend back as far as the Permian.
Shark fin soup is a soup or stewed dish served in parts of China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. The shark fins provide texture, while the taste comes from the other soup ingredients. It is commonly served at special occasions such as weddings and banquets, or as a luxury item.
Bottom trawling is trawling along the seafloor. It is also referred to as "dragging". The scientific community divides bottom trawling into benthic trawling and demersal trawling. Benthic trawling is towing a net at the very bottom of the ocean and demersal trawling is towing a net just above the benthic zone. Bottom trawling can be contrasted with midwater trawling, where a net is towed higher in the water column. Midwater trawling catches pelagic fish such as anchovies and mackerel, whereas bottom trawling targets both bottom-living fish (groundfish) and semi-pelagic species such as cod, squid, shrimp, and rockfish.
The spiny dogfish, spurdog, mud shark, or piked dogfish is one of the best known species of the Squalidae (dogfish) family of sharks, which is part of the Squaliformes order.
The silvertip shark is a large species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, with a fragmented distribution throughout the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is often encountered around offshore islands and coral reefs, and has been known to dive to a depth of 800 m (2,600 ft). The silvertip shark resembles a larger and bulkier grey reef shark, but can be easily identified by the prominent white margins on its fins. It attains a maximum length of 3 m (10 ft).
The Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument is a group of unorganized, mostly unincorporated United States Pacific Island territories managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service of the United States Department of the Interior and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States Department of Commerce. These remote refuges are "the most widespread collection of marine- and terrestrial-life protected areas on the planet under a single country's jurisdiction". They protect many endemic species including corals, fish, shellfish, marine mammals, seabirds, water birds, land birds, insects, and vegetation not found elsewhere.
Shark finning is the act of removing fins from sharks and discarding the rest of the shark back into the ocean. This act is prohibited in many countries. The sharks are often still alive when discarded, but without their fins. Unable to swim effectively, they sink to the bottom of the ocean and die of suffocation or are eaten by other predators. Shark finning at sea enables fishing vessels to increase profitability and increase the number of sharks harvested, as they must only store and transport the fins, by far the most profitable part of the shark; the shark meat is bulky to transport. Many countries have banned this practice and require the whole shark to be brought back to port before removing the fins.
Sharkwater is a 2006 Canadian documentary film written and directed by Rob Stewart. Helping to protect sharks, changing government policy, and inspiring the creation of shark conservation groups, Sharkwater is considered one of conservation's success stories, resulting in shark finning being banned in over 90 countries. In the film, Stewart documents current attitudes about sharks, and how shark-hunting industries are driving them to extinction.
Marine conservation activism is the efforts of non-governmental organizations and individuals to bring about social and political change in the area of marine conservation. Marine conservation is properly conceived as a set of management strategies for the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas. Activists raise public awareness and support for conservation, while pushing governments and corporations to practice sound ocean management, create conservation policy, and enforce existing laws and policy through effective regulation. There are many different kinds of organizations and agencies that work toward these common goals. They all are a part of the growing movement that is ocean conservation. These organizations fight for many causes including stopping pollution, overfishing, whaling and by-catching, and supporting marine protected areas.
Paul J. Fong is an American politician. He is a former Democratic California State Assembly member from the 28th district.
China has one-fifth of the world's population and accounts for one-third of the world's reported fish production as well as two-thirds of the world's reported aquaculture production. It is also a major importer of seafood and the country's seafood market is estimated to grow to a market size worth US$53.5 Billion by 2027.
As with other countries, the 200 nautical miles (370 km) exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the coast of the United States gives its fishing industry special fishing rights. It covers 11.4 million square kilometres, which is the second largest zone in the world, exceeding the land area of the United States.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to sharks:
The Shark Conservation Act of 2009 (SCA) was passed by the 111th United States Congress that amended the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act and the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to improve the conservation of sharks. The bill was approved by the House of Representatives on March 2, 2009 by voice vote. It was taken up by the Senate and amended to incorporate further changes to Magnuson-Stevens, known as the International Fisheries Agreement Clarification Act. The Senate passed the amended bill as the Shark Conservation Act of 2010 on December 20, 2010 by unanimous consent, and the next day the House accepted the amendment, again by voice vote. The bill was signed into law by President Barack Obama on January 4, 2011.
The Nauru Agreement Concerning Cooperation in the Management of Fisheries of Common Interest, or The Nauru Agreement is an Oceania subregional agreement between the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. The eight signatories collectively control 25–30% of the world's tuna supply and approximately 60% of the western and central Pacific tuna supply.
Shark fin trading in Costa Rica, or shark finning, is an illegal practice in the country. It poses a serious threat to shark populations besides the organized crime involvement in the practice within Costa Rica. The trade in Costa Rica is vigorously controlled by the Taiwanese mafia because of the high value of shark fins in restaurants in the Pacific Rim countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and China where Shark fin soup can cost up to $100 a serving in top restaurants. Some 95% of shark fin trading activity in Costa Rica culminates in the docks of Puntarenas on the western coast, notably Inversiones Cruz Dock and Harezan Dock, which are often privately run by the Taiwanese. The industry in Costa Rica took off from the 1970s as a result of the growth in demand from the emerging wealthy Tiger economies of the Asia-Pacific for shark fin as a delicacy. By the 1990s, the shark fin industry in Costa Rica had become one of the world's most important in shark finning, especially as a major cargo-unloading point for international fleets because of tax laws and government corruption in cracking down on the trade.
The Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) is an intergovernmental agency established in 1979 to facilitate regional co-operation and co-ordination on fisheries policies between its member states in order to achieve conservation and optimum utilisation of living marine resources, in particular highly migratory fish stocks, for the benefit of the peoples of the region, in particular the developing countries. The office campus is located in Honiara, Solomon Islands
Palau–Philippines relations refers to the bilateral relations between Palau and the Philippines. The Philippines and Palau have shared centuries of history under the same Spanish colony, and after Philippine independence, Palaos (Palau) sent a delegation to the Malolos Congress.
The Marine Policy of the Barack Obama administration comprises several significant environmental policy decisions for the oceans made during his two terms in office from 2009 to 2017. By executive action, US President Barack Obama increased fourfold the amount of protected marine space in waters under United States control, setting a major precedent for global ocean conservation. Using the U.S. president's authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906, he expanded to 200 nautical miles the seaward limits of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument around the U.S. island possessions in the Central Pacific. In the Atlantic, Obama created the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, the first marine monument in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Atlantic.
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