News

Efforts to Strengthen the EU Shark Finning Ban

Project AWARE, as part of the Shark Alliance delegation, handed over a petition delivered to the Spanish Authorities in Madrid on 27 January 2010. The petition was signed by over 90,000 citizens from across the globe urging Spain to end its opposition to improving the EU ban on finning - cutting off a shark's fins and discarding its body at sea - and lead the EU toward a more effective finning regulation.  
 

The widely supported 2009 European Community Plan of Action for Sharks includes a pledge to strengthen the EU finning regulation. Spain is Europe's top shark fishing nation and has worked to obstruct the adoption of tighter rules on shark finning.  Holding the EU Presidency until July 2010, Spain is likely to preside over deliberations concerning these changes.

The petition delivery meeting was timely as Spain has acted as a leader by becoming the first EU Member State to fully protect all species of hammerhead and thresher sharks, many of which are considered threatened.  On the other hand, Spain is one of only two EU countries to issue permits that allow fishermen to remove shark fins at sea. Although shark bodies must be retained under these permits, at-sea fin removal creates enforcement challenges that can enable finning to take place undetected.  Project AWARE helped in the collection of signatures during the October 2009 European Shark Week coordinated by Shark Alliance.

Project AWARE Foundation is a Steering Group member of the Shark Alliance, a global, not-for-profit coalition of 76 conservation, scientific and recreational organizations dedicated to improving shark conservation policies.  

Caption Suzanne Pleydell, Project AWARE Foundation, with the Shark Alliance delegation, in the petition handover to Alejandro Palanco Mata, General Director of Fisheries Resources and Aquaculture and Mar Fernandez, of the Spanish Ministry of Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs.

«BACK