Resources and Reports

Shark Alliance

MarViva

Hunted for fins

Sharks are vulnerable species. In general, they grow slowly, mature late and produce few young over a long lifetime. Their populations typically increase at extremely low rates, leaving them exceptionally vulnerable to overexploitation and slow to recover from depletion. According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, about one-third of European shark and ray populations assessed are considered “threatened.”

The European Union includes some of the most important shark fishing nations in the world. In 2005, EU countries caught nearly 100,000 metric tons of elasmobranches (including sharks, rays and sawfish). Spain took the largest share at around 39 per cent of the EU total, followed by France (22 per cent), Portugal (16 per cent) the UK (11 per cent).

If we save the sharks, we save the oceans.

Leaflet: Sharks in danger

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Shark alert: Revealing Europe's impact on shark populations

Europe is playing a lead role in the overfi shing, waste, and depletion of the world’s sharks. Despite improved management instruments and growing public concern, European Union (EU) restrictions on shark fi nning remain among the weakest in the world and no overall plan to manage EU shark fi sheries and restore depleted populations exists. Because of sharks’ importance as predators in ocean ecosystems and Europe’s strong infl uence on global fi sheries policy, EU shark fi shing regulations have a wide-reaching effect on the world’s oceans. Because of sharks’ biological vulnerability to overfi shing, mismanagement of shark populations can happen quickly and take many decades to repair.

 

A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT ILLEGAL DRIFTNETS

Oceana in the documentary made by the producer EarthOcean about illegal drifnetters in the Mediterranean Sea. The video includes an interview with Xavier Pastor, Oceana’s Director for Europe, and also images of illegal driftnetters recorded during the expeditions on board the catamaran Oceana Ranger. Driftnets are banned since 2002 because they represent a major threat for the conservation of endangered species such as marine turtles and cetaceans.

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OCEANA's REPORTS