Europe is playing a lead role in the overfishing, waste, and depletion of the world’s sharks. Despite improved management instruments and growing public concern, European Union (EU) restrictions on shark finning remain among the weakest in the world and no overall plan to manage EU shark fisheries and restore depleted populations exists. Because of sharks’ … Read more
Oceana calls for regulation of high-seas shark fisheries, as these vulnerable species lack any management measures in international waters despite being highly exploited. Delegates from the international marine conservation organization are attending the Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (RFMO) meeting taking place this week in San Sebastian, Spain, whose aim is to discuss the failures in … Read more
Oceana calls for regulation of high-seas shark fisheries, as these vulnerable species lack any management measures in international waters despite being highly exploited. Delegates from the international marine conservation organization are attending the Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (RFMO) meeting taking place this week in San Sebastian, Spain, whose aim is to discuss the failures in … Read more
Oceana is pleased that the European Union countries have agreed to submit Germany’s proposals on sharks to the CITES Conference of the Parties next year. These proposals are to list the spurdog (Squalus acanthias) and porbeagle (Lamna nasus) sharks on Appendix II of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna … Read more
Oceana is expressing its support for a proposal by Germany to list two shark species, the porbeagle shark (Lamna nasus) and spurdog (Squalus acanthias), on the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This recommendation is one of many in a new report published by the international marine … Read more
Traditionally, sharks were considered as bycatch in fisheries for highly migratory species like tuna and swordfish. That has changed. Pelagic sharks are now the targeted species of the European Union surface longline fleets. Spain possesses, by far, the biggest European longline fleet. The Spanish longliners’ catch in the Atlantic Ocean consists of more than 67 … Read more
Most of the pelagic (open water) sharks caught worldwide by European Union vessels come from the fisheries of modern Spanish and Portuguese surface longliner fleets which target them. In 2004, EU vessels reported 114,669 metric tons of shark and ray catches worldwide. More than 67 per cent of total shark catches in the Atlantic were … Read more
Elasmobranches, the group of fishes that include sharks and batoids (rays and other flat sharks), are found in all European waters, from the cold and deep waters of Greenland to the warm subtropical waters of the Canary Islands. Elasmobranches are cartilaginous fishes, meaning they have skeletons made of cartilage instead of bone; they present a … Read more
Sharks represent one of nature’s most successful creations. They have roamed our oceans for over 400 million years and survived various extinction events to evolve into predators that are perfectly adapted to the marine environment. Early sharks looked very different from today’s modern sharks, but these animals have always had a strategic advantage over their … Read more
Sharks have been fished for hundreds of years, some records even date back to ancient Roman times. But it has only been in the last few decades when the volume of shark catches increased exponentially. Sharks are now targeted by both highly industrialised fishing fleets and artisanal fisheries. Sharks are mainly hunted for their fins … Read more
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We have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.
Oceana in Europe gratefully acknowledges EU funding support.
