OCEANA alerts that EU is turning blind eye to swordfish overfishing

EU maintains inaction despite accounting for 90% of the fleet responsible. Oceana, the international marine conservation organisation, has sounded the alarm today on the European Union’s reluctance to take measures for the recovery of Mediterranean swordfish. According to an assessment carried out by scientists earlier this year, the stock is overfished; it has declined steeply … Read more

European Union proposes sweeping shark management measures in ICCAT

While the plight of the bluefin tuna is grabbing much of the world’s attention at this week’s meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in Marrakesh, Morocco, some other vulnerable species have now been given the spotlight they deserve. Sharks, the powerful but vulnerable predators of the oceans, have been … Read more

Oceana report unveils hidden shark catches

A new report by Oceana, based on Hong Kong shark fin trade data and other sources, has revealed that up to 24 countries may be catching sharks in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea but failing to report these catches, as is legally required by the Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The … Read more

International Tuna Commission calls for data, but not catch limits on imperiled species

The annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) which ended last night, brought agreement to examine the status of Atlantic sharks, but no measures to protect these vulnerable species from overfishing.  The lack of action by ICCAT leaves conservationists looking to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species … Read more

ICCAT’s baffling contradiction: precaution on bluefin, abandonment of sharks

Agadir (Morocco) – As the annual ICCAT Meeting closes its doors today, Oceana, an official observer at the meeting, welcomes the steps taken for Eastern bluefin tuna management in 2013, but has grave concerns about the lack of new measures for threatened highly migratory species of sharks, and overall weak compliance with existing measures. Contracting … Read more

ICCAT 2012: Fate of Bluefin Tuna and Sharks Being Discussed

This week, the annual ICCAT conference is underway in Agadir, Morocco. As some of you may know, Oceana has observer status at the ICCAT meeting, and two of our experts are on the ground as we speak. Bluefin tuna is such an iconic species, both because of its place in the culinary history of so … Read more

Oceana Applauds ICCAT Decision to Protect Vulnerable Silky Sharks

ISTANBUL – Oceana, the largest international advocacy group working solely to protect the world’s oceans, applauded the 22nd Regular Meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) today for establishing new protections for silky sharks, the shark species most vulnerable to overfishing by Atlantic longline fisheries. The new measure requires that … Read more

It’s ICCAT time again!

It’s ICCAT time again! This week an international team of Oceana experts headed to Turkey to seek protection for sharks and swordfish, both of which are overfished, at the 22nd Regular Meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). Wondering why an organization that specifies conserving tuna is the place to … Read more