Press Release

20
Nov
2023

EU promotes whale shark protection and risky blue shark quotas as Japan blocks finning measure

The Press Release is available in French and Spanish

Cairo, Egypt. November 20, 2023.  The Shark League member groups are heralding conservation advances for imperiled Atlantic sharks and rays at this year’s meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) while warning that new measures are still insufficiently cautious to properly safeguard such inherently vulnerable species.  ICCAT Parties agreed provisional protections for mantas and devil rays, as well as whale sharks, reduced quotas for heavily fished blue sharks, and improved processes for ensuring that nations comply with ICCAT fishing and data reporting requirements. Many of the improvements reflect recommendations made in a new Shark League gap analysis.

Continue reading PRESS RELEASE: Atlantic manta ray and blue shark conservation advances under UK leadership

9
Nov
2023

Analysis details problems and recommends remedies for aligning nations’ commitments and actions

This Press Release is available in Arabic, French and Spanish.

London, November 9, 2023.  A new Shark League gap analysis highlights where shark fishing and trading nations are falling short after decades of conservation commitments made through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES, a global wildlife treaty) and the International Commission for Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT, a regional fishery management organization). The authors:

Continue reading PRESS RELEASE: New Shark Conservation Report Launched at Atlantic Tuna Meeting Targets Troublesome Gaps

9
Nov
2023

An analysis of ICCAT Parties’ policies for CITES-listed Atlantic elasmobranchs

Analyzing pivotal international agreements such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the Shark League’s latest analysis, “Bridging the Gaps that Hinder Shark Conservation,” scrutinizes the efficacy of existing conservation initiatives and recommends essential improvements.

Continue reading New Report: Bridging the Gaps that Hinder Shark Conservation

21
Nov
2022

Fishery managers agree groundbreaking safeguards for CITES-listed, South Atlantic population

This post is also available in: Français (French)

Faro, Portugal. November 21, 2022.  The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) today agreed the world’s first population-wide fishing quota for highly vulnerable shortfin mako sharks. ICCAT set a South Atlantic catch limit (to cover landings as well as mortality from discarding) within the level recommended by scientists in 2019 and made allocations to individual fishing Parties that are calculated to cut their landings of the Endangered species by 40-60%. The agreement stems from a more precautionary proposal by the European Union and United Kingdom to extend a 2021 ban on particularly depleted North Atlantic shortfin makos to the South Atlantic. Pushback from Namibia and South Africa resulted in negotiations for short-term limits instead.

Continue reading First International Mako Shark Quota Adopted

23
Sep
2022

Northwest Atlantic fishing nations ban retention of longest-lived vertebrate

Porto, September 23, 2022. Today, the mysterious Greenland shark – thought to have the longest lifespan of any vertebrate – was granted new, historic protections by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) on the final day of its annual meeting. The US and Canada, with support from the UK and the EU, proposed and secured a science-based ban on retaining the species from international waters.

“The incredibly slow growing, long-lived, and wide-ranging Greenland shark clearly deserves the precautionary international protection that was agreed today,” said Sonja Fordham, president of Shark Advocates International, who testified in support of the proposed ban on behalf of the Shark League coalition. “We thank the United States and Canada for their steadfast efforts over several years to secure science-based safeguards for this extraordinary animal and we urge all Parties to adopt similar protections for their waters.”

Scientists have estimated that Greenland sharks may live 400 years and don’t reproduce until about age 150, leaving populations exceptionally vulnerable to overfishing. In 2018, the NAFO Scientific Council recommended a complete ban on retaining Greenland sharks, along with measures to collect information and minimize incidental mortality associated with “bycatch.” That year, the US and EU secured catch reporting requirements and a partial ban (on targeting the species in international waters).

The new measure bans Greenland shark fishing, retention, transshipment, and landing (part or whole) and applies to international waters of the Northwest Atlantic. Exceptions are possible where domestic bans on discarding fish apply (Iceland, Norway, Faroe Islands, and Greenland), but only for dead Greenland sharks captured incidentally; commercial profit from such landings is prohibited. Parties also underscored previous commitments to report on efforts to minimize incidental catches and mortality of Greenland sharks. NAFO scientists will continue their work to identify times and areas where Greenland shark bycatch is high and will provide additional conservation advice in 2024.

“As we celebrate this important shark conservation advance, we encourage NAFO Parties to follow up promptly with required reports on Greenland shark catches and bycatch mitigation,” said Shannon Arnold, marine policy coordinator for Ecology Action Centre. “This information is essential to the next key steps of identifying hotspots and changing fishing practices to minimize harm.”

Greenland sharks are associated with high latitudes of the North Atlantic and Arctic waters at depths to 3000 meters, but specimens have been reported as far south as Belize. Growing to more than six meters (21 feet), they were heavily fished in the early 1990s for liver oil. Today, Greenland sharks are primarily caught incidentally and sometimes used for their meat in Iceland and Greenland.

Media contact: Sonja Fordham email: sonja@sharkadvocates.org Tel: +1 202 436 1468.

Notes to Editors: The Shark League is a coalition of Shark Advocates International (a project of The Ocean Foundation), Ecology Action Centre, Shark Trust, and PADI AWARE Foundation formed with support from the Shark Conservation Fund to advance science-based shark policies for the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

NAFO Contracting Parties include Canada, Cuba, Denmark (in respect to the Faroe Islands and Greenland), the European Union, France (in respect to Saint Pierre et Miquelon), Iceland, Japan, Republic of Korea, Norway, Russian Federation, Ukraine, and the US.

Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) 2022 Position Statement: Skates & Sharks

23
Nov
2021

International fishery managers agree to historic yet potentially short-term North Atlantic ban

The Press Release is also available in: Français (French), Español (Spanish)

Madrid, Spain. November 23, 2021. Conservationists are heralding a hard-fought ban on retention of North Atlantic shortfin mako sharks adopted today by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), as a first step toward reversing the decline of the seriously overfished population. The ban forms the core of a long-term international rebuilding plan, the first in the world for this exceptionally valuable, globally threatened species. ICCAT fishery managers agreed that, in 2022 and 2023, all retention of North Atlantic shortfin makos will be prohibited, an action that ICCAT scientists have advised since 2017. The EU – which has long taken the lion’s share of mako catch – insisted, however, on including a complicated formula that may offer a way for some Parties to resume landings after the reprieve.

Continue reading PRESS RELEASE: Endangered Mako Sharks Get A Break

15
Nov
2021

International Tuna Fishery Managers Resume Negotiations That Could Result in Overdue, Historic Protection

The Press Release is available in: English, French and Spanish

PRESS RELEASE, Madrid, Spain. November 15, 2021. Conservationists are focused this week on the annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and the possibility of a new agreement to protect seriously overfished North Atlantic shortfin mako sharks. Since 2017, scientists have recommended a ban on retention as the most effective immediate step toward reversing decline and rebuilding the population over about 50 years. Such a ban has been repeatedly proposed by many ICCAT Parties, led most recently by Canada, Senegal, Gabon, and the UK. The main obstacles have been the EU and the US whose competing proposals for exceptions have prevented consensus for years.

Continue reading Press Release: Make or Break for Endangered Atlantic Mako Sharks

24
Sep
2021

Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization fails to agree Greenland Shark ban despite broad support

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. September 24, 2021. The Greenland shark – the species thought to have the longest lifespan of any vertebrate – has been denied new protections at this week’s (online) annual meeting of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO). The US had proposed a science-based ban on retaining Greenland sharks and was supported by the EU, UK, Canada, Russia, Norway, and France (with respect to Saint Pierre and Miquelon). In response to opposition from Iceland, however, the US withdrew its proposal. The NAFO Parties supporting Greenland shark protection pledged to reintroduce the proposal at the next annual meeting.

Continue reading Arctic Shark Denied Protection

9
Jul
2021

Decision on North Atlantic ICCAT ban – championed by Canada, Gabon, Senegal, and the UK – stalled again

FrenchSpanish

London, UK. July 9, 2021. Conservationists are deeply unhappy that the European Union and the United States once again obstructed agreement on urgently needed mako shark protections during this week’s special Committee negotiations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). Canada and seven other Parties proposed a ban on retaining seriously overfished North Atlantic shortfin makos, as scientists have long advised. The EU and US refused to go along, insisting on exceptions for continued landings of the endangered species, despite receiving only opposition in response. The resulting delay in consensus allows unsustainable fishing on this shared population to continue. ICCAT scientists estimate recovery could take five decades, even if fishing were to stop immediately.

Continue reading EU and US Impede Momentum Toward Vital Mako Shark Protections

20
May
2021

Press Release available in French and Spanish

Cross Party Coalition Calls on EU Commissioner to Change Course and Accept Scientific Advice

Brussels. 20 May 2021. 41 Members of European Parliament (MEPs) are calling on the European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, to ensure EU support for protecting endangered shortfin mako sharks through the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). In a letter sent today, in preparation for upcoming ICCAT negotiations, the MEPs request that the EU stop blocking and begin supporting a mako retention ban long recommended by scientists to save the North Atlantic population.

Continue reading MEPs Urge EU Support for Protecting Endangered Mako Sharks