Press Release

As Listing Petition Advances, Conservationists Repeat Call for Immediate North Atlantic Ban

Continue reading Shortfin Mako Shark Clears Hurdle Toward U.S. Endangered Species List

New Landings Ban by Top Shark Fishing Power Could Take a Big Bite Out of Overfishing

Press Release available in English and Spanish

London, February 1, 2021. Conservationists are heralding action by the Spanish government to protect one of the world’s most valuable and threatened shark species, the shortfin mako. A new moratorium on landing, sale, and trade applies to the particularly depleted North Atlantic population and has potential to put a significant dent in serious, long-term overfishing.

Continue reading Spain Protects Endangered Mako Sharks

After fisheries officials fail, environmental obligations offer hope for 2021 landings crack down

Brussels. December 21, 2020. Conservationists are closing the year with hope for endangered North Atlantic shortfin mako sharks as EU level decisions point to unprecedented 2021 limits for some of the world’s top mako fishing countries, particularly Spain and Portugal. Just after the European Commission blocked an international North Atlantic ban and proposed excessive EU mako quotas, EU Member State scientists reviewing mako obligations under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) have issued an opinion that points to EU Member States banning North Atlantic shortfin mako imports, including those introduced from the high seas by EU fishing vessels.

Continue reading Overdue EU Action Sets Up Endangered Mako Sharks for New Year’s Reprieve

Available in French and Spanish.

North Atlantic ban championed by Canada, Senegal, and the UK thwarted in virtual ICCAT meeting

London, UK. December 14th, 2020. Conservationists are outraged that the European Union and the United States – despite long promoting science-based shark conservation – once again served as the main obstacles to urgently needed protections for mako sharks through annual negotiations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). Canada, Senegal, and – in their first official act as an independent ICCAT Party — the United Kingdom proposed a ban on retention of seriously overfished North Atlantic shortfin makos, as ICCAT scientists have long advised. The proposal earned support from Taiwan and Gabon. The EU and US, however, refused to give up on exceptions for continuing to land the endangered species. As a result, this year’s mako negotiations end with no new conservation measures. The next opportunity for Atlantic-wide action is July 2021 through a special intersessional meeting. ICCAT scientists estimate this population could take five decades to recover, even if fishing were to stop immediately. Lack of consensus allows unsustainable fishing on this shared population to continue.

Continue reading EU and US Block Vital Protections for Endangered Mako Sharks

Update, November 18, 2020: The day after signaling that ICCAT mako negotiations were at an impasse and would need to resume next year, the Chair of the Committee responsible for shark conservation announced that the matter is not yet closed and welcomed additional input from ICCAT Parties. The Shark League remains hopeful that the plan for the coming weeks was amended in response to countries expressing keen interest in tackling the mako crisis this year rather than accepting another damaging delay.

North Atlantic ban proposed by Canada, Senegal, and the UK thwarted in virtual ICCAT meeting

Also available in French and Spanish.

Continue reading EU and US Block Vital Protections for Endangered Mako Sharks

NGOs herald proposal for international science-based fishing limits, urge US & EU to get on board

Also available in French and Spanish.

Continue reading Canada Steps Up with Bid to Save Endangered Atlantic Mako Sharks

Halifax, Nueva Escocia, 22 de abril de 2020. El mundo conservacionista ha acogido muy favorablemente que el gobierno canadiense, de acuerdo con las recomendaciones científicas, haya decidido prohibir toda retención a bordo de marrajo dientuso, una especie en peligro de extinción, en las pesquerías del Atlántico. Con esta decisión, Canadá se convierte en el primer país pesquero del Atlántico Norte que aplica una recomendación formulada desde hace mucho tiempo por los científicos de la Comisión Internacional para la Conservación del Atún Atlántico (ICCAT), que pedían que se prohibiera la retención de marrajos dientusos de esta región. Se requiere con urgencia que esta misma acción se emule por todo el Atlántico Norte con el fin de acabar con la sobrepesca y restablecer esta población de marrajo dientuso, gravemente diezmada. No hace mucho, Canadá ocupaba la quinta posición entre los países parte de ICCAT en lo referente a desembarques de marrajo dientuso del Atlántico.

Continue reading Canadá protege a los marrajos en peligro de extinción con una revolucionaria prohibición para el Atlántico

Halifax, Nova Scotia, April 22, 2020. Conservationists are welcoming a science-based decision by the Canadian government to end all retention of endangered shortfin mako sharks in Atlantic fisheries. With this action, Canada becomes the first North Atlantic country to heed a longstanding recommendation from International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) scientists to prohibit retention of shortfin makos from the region. Such action is urgently needed across the North Atlantic to end overfishing and rebuild the seriously depleted population. Canada recently ranked fifth among ICCAT Parties for North Atlantic shortfin mako landings.

Continue reading Canada Protects Endangered Mako Sharks with Groundbreaking Atlantic Ban

L’interdiction de leur pêche dans l’Atlantique nord, pourtant soutenue par 16 pays, dont le Japon et la Chine, a été contrée lors de la réunion de la CICTA

Majorque, Espagne. Le 25 novembre 2019. Les organisations de défense de l’environnement sont choquées et dévastées d’apprendre que l’Union européenne et les États-Unis – qui défendent pourtant depuis longtemps une conservation des requins fondée sur la science – étaient les principales Parties à faire obstacle à l’adoption urgente de mesures de protection nécessaires pour les requins-taupes bleus lors de la réunion annuelle de la Commission internationale pour la conservation des thonidés de l’Atlantique (CICTA). Emmenés par le Sénégal et le Canada, dix pays ont proposé et défendu un consensus sur l’interdiction de la rétention à bord des requins-taupes bleus de l’Atlantique nord, gravement surpêchés, comme le recommandent les scientifiques. Pourtant l’UE et les États-Unis ont refusé de renoncer à des exceptions leur permettant de débarquer des centaines de tonnes de cette espèce en danger d’extinction. Les scientifiques de la CICTA estiment que cette population pourrait mettre quarante ou cinquante ans à se reconstituer, quand bien même la pêche cesserait aujourd’hui. L’absence de consensus favorise le maintien du statu quo à des niveaux de pêche non durables.

Continue reading L’Union européenne et les États-Unis s’opposent à des mesures de protection vitales pour les requins-taupes bleus en danger d’extinction