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The shark harvests of a total of 34 vessels were monitored over 13 days. (Photo: Stock File)
Juvenile shark landings raise concern
PANAMA
Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 15:20 (GMT + 9)
The Authority on Aquatic Resources of Panama (ARAP) expressed worry over the fishing of small-sized sharks - newborn and juvenile – in the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
This practice seems to be spurred by the fact that, in some markets, the meat of those fish fetch higher prices than mature specimens.
According to the head of the Resource Assessment Department of the Directorate of Research and Development of the ARAP, Yehudi Rodriguez, the situation has led Panama to participate in a regional pilot monitoring plan of shark and ray landings.
The pilot plan is expected to allow officials to obtain detailed information on catches and the abundance of these resources in domestic waters.
So far, a monitoring of 34 vessels over 13 days and in different parts of Panama was carried out, and the first data indicates that fishers target small-sized sharks, Rodriguez indicated.
The ARAP informed that the most often targeted species are the hammerhead, scalloped hammerhead, sharpnose, horn, latigo, tiger, thresher, blackspot, silky and galagensis, Pueblo en Linea reports.
Rodriguez recalled that problems with the populations of scalloped hammerhead (Sphyman lewini) exist in Panama and in several central America countries. For this reason, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) plans on including the species on an alert listing.
By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
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