Shark catch. (Photo: T. Ezcurra)

CEPESCA backs global shark management measures

SPAIN
Thursday, November 05, 2009, 17:10 (GMT + 9)

The Spanish Fisheries Confederation (CEPESCA) will ask the European Commission (EC) to put forth international conservation and management measures for a variety of species of shark, among them, the thresher and the hammerhead.

The Confederation has called for action in line with the system established for the Community fleet, in which the system of data contribution, control, compliance and sanction is referred to, and which prohibits the capture of both species.

It is hoped that the measures are proposed in the next annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), which will be held in Recife, Brazil, from 6 to 15 November.

Last September, Spain prohibited the capture of thresher sharks and scalloped hammerhead sharks – in an effort to protect both vulnerable species.

According to the norm, Spanish fishing ships are not be able to catch, transfer, land or commercialise these sharks in any of the fishing-grounds they target.

“In written documents sent as much to the Spanish Administration as to EC Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg, CEPESCA insists on the need for the European Commission to chair the ICCAT session on the necessary initiatives for the protection of the most vulnerable species of sharks and in the setting of the most adequate management measures for the establishment of responsible and sustainable fishing,” the Confederation indicated in a statement.

CEPESCA authorities also hope the EC reiterates the recommendation proposal to protect these sharks, presented in November 2008 in Morocco.

“It is essential that ICCAT adopts a Recommendation that prohibits the fishing of thresher and hammerhead sharks,” Javier Garat, Secretary General of CEPESCA, said. “If it is not done, the effort made by Spain will be worth absolutely nothing and these vulnerable species will continue undergoing fishing pressure that will put them in danger.”

“Spanish shipowners have already given the first step in agreeing with the Spanish Ministry and the NGO on the prohibition in Spain. Now the ball is in the European Commission’s corner, which cannot fail a responsible sector like the Spanish,” he added.

According to Garat, if the measures for shark protection do not become extensive to the rest of the Community fleets and ICCAT, “the paradox is that as from the 1 January 2010, the Spanish fleet cannot capture them and that, nonetheless, threshers and hammerheads will be landed in Vigo on the part of the fleets of other countries, generating conflicts of unimaginable consequences.”

CEPESCA once again asked the EC to propose a recommendation so that the fishing effort be halted on blue and shortfin mako sharks, both extrememly important for the Spanish fleet.

At present, these resources display a good biological state, but they could have problems in the future if suitable management measures are not taken in time.

“It would be convenient to control the pressure on these populations to avoid the adoption of more drastic measures in the future,” CEPESCA asserts.

Related article:

- Shark fishing prohibited