Conservationists rally MEPs to make, not break EU ban on shark finning

Member organisations of the Shark Alliance, a coalition of conservation NGOs, today expressed hope that a strong, cross-Party Amendment in the European Parliament can correct troubling calls to weaken the EU’s ban on shark finning contained in the draft report from Parliament’s Fisheries Committee. Oceana, The Ocean Conservancy and The Shark Trust – founding members … Read more

Sharks threatened by European Parliament finning report

The international marine conservation organization Oceana has released a report aimed at European Union (EU) Members of Parliament (Euro MPs) to express its concern about a decision that will be taken in the European Parliament (EP) Committee on Fisheries on August 28th that could support the killing of millions of sharks each year. Oceana calls … Read more

Sharks at risk – EU policies threaten species globally

Launching a report about the dangerous decline in shark populations caused by European fishing policy, the newly formed Shark Alliance today expressed dismay at the European Parliament Fisheries Committee’s push for weaker restrictions on shark finning. The report, entitled “Shark Alert: Revealing Europe’s Impact on Shark Populations,” details the depletion of European shark populations and … Read more

Oceana discovers a “forest” of corals and sea fan in Andalusia

Dolphins, pilot whales and sea turtles are frequent visitors to this important marine area of immense ecological value for which Oceana requests protection During the past weeks, the specialists aboard the Oceana Ranger research vessel, with the help from a submarine robot (ROV) and in collaboration with the Biodiversity Foundation, have examined the marine life … Read more

Oceana warns the European Commission and member states that lack of action to conserve the depleted porbeagle shark could lead to its collapse

The international marine research and conservation organization, Oceana, is dissatisfied by the lack of any catch limit or management plan for the porbeagle shark (Lamna nasus) in Council Regulation (EC) Nº 41/2006, which fixes the 2007 fishing opportunities for certain fish stocks. Despite scientific advice to end directed fisheries for porbeagle, no EU catch limitations … Read more

Shark trade limits endorsed by European Union

Brussels: The Shark Alliance is applauding today’s decision by European Union Member States to support Germany’s proposals to provide protection for spiny dogfish sharks (Squalus acanthias) and porbeagle sharks (Lamna nasus) under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Following debate at the European Commission’s CITES Committee, the proposals received the qualified majority … Read more

Oceana requests explanations from the Spanish Socialist and Popular parties regarding their efforts to increase shark captures

In a letter addressed to the ruling Partido Socialista Obrero Español (Spanish Socialist Party, or PSOE) and to the main opposition force, the Partido Popular (People’s Party, or PP), Oceana, the international marine conservation organisation, requests answers for the recent proposals by their Members of the European Parliament (MEP) to increase shark fin removal, and … Read more

Spain ignores scientific evidence and blocks the UN proposal for protecting sea beds against bottom trawling

“It is an alarmist report with no scientific foundation”. With these disparaging words, Fernando Curcio, the Spanish government’s General Director of Fisheries Resources, dismissed the results of a study prepared under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). The report was presented in London at the beginning … Read more