UN shark conservation plan has failed, says report

(AFP) Google News 27 Jan 11;

PARIS — A headline-making UN scheme to preserve the world's sharks has been a resounding failure, according to a report on Thursday that pins the blame on Indonesia, India, Spain and Taiwan and 16 other major catchers of the fish.

"The fate of the world's sharks is in the hands of the Top 20 shark catchers, most of which have failed to demonstrate what, if anything, they are doing to save these imperiled species," said Glenn Sant of the British conservation group TRAFFIC.

"They need to take action to stop the decline in shark populations and help ensure that the list of species threatened by overfishing does not continue to grow."

The report, compiled jointly by TRAFFIC and the US Pew Environment Group, urges a far-reaching review next week when members of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) meet in Rome.

The January 31-February 4 gathering of the agency's Committee on Fisheries (COFI), will look at a 2001 International Plan of Action for conserving sharks, skates and rays.

The much-ballyhooed plan set down a 10-point plan for ensuring that shark catches are sustainable and bound signatories to set up a national plan and assess its implementation every four years.

Since then, massive overfishing -- especially to serve the East Asian lust for shark-fin soup -- has contributed to a plunge in shark numbers, according to the report.

As many as 73 million are killed each year and nearly a third of shark species are now threatened or near-threatened by extinction.

The report points the finger at the "Top 20" catchers, identified from data reported to the FAO, which account for more than 640,000 tonnes annually, or nearly 80 percent of the world total.

"Only 13 of the Top 20 have developed national plans to protect sharks... and it remains unclear how those plans have been implemented or if they have been effective," it says.

Heading the list is Indonesia, which accounts for 13 percent of global reported shark catches, followed by India (nine percent), Spain (7.3 percent) and Taiwan (5.8 percent).

Other major catchers are Argentina (4.3 percent), Mexico (4.1 percent), Pakistan (3.9 percent), the United States (3.7 percent), Japan (three percent) and Malaysia (2.9 percent).

Conservationists say that sharks, sadly demonised in movies and folk culture, play a vital role in ensuring a balanced marine environment.

The lack of a predator has a big knock-on effect down the food chain, for smaller fish are able to feast on lower organisms such as shellfish that have big commercial value.

Global conservation plan fails to protect sharks-report
Nina Chestney Reuters 27 Jan 11;

LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - A 10-year-old international plan to conserve sharks has largely failed and only 13 of the top 20 shark-catching countries have developed national plans to protect the endangered creatures, a report showed on Thursday.

Shark populations have been falling worldwide mostly due to overfishing to satisfy demand for shark fin soup in east Asia.

In 2001, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) approved an international plan aimed at conserving sharks after it found that a serious monitoring and control programme was lacking for international shark trade.

In its report, wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic and the Pew Environment Group urged an FAO fisheries committee meeting next week to review steps urgently to manage shark fisheries.

"With 30 percent of shark species now threatened or near threatened with extinction, there is little evidence that the plan has contributed significantly to improved conservation and management of these animals," Traffic said in a statement.

Twenty countries account for nearly 80 percent of the total number of sharks caught globally. An estimated 73 million sharks are killed annually mostly for their fins, U.S.-based Environmental Defense Fund said last year.

Indonesia alone catches 13 percent of the world's sharks, according to the report, entitled 'The Future of Sharks: a Review of Action and Inaction', which was released on Thursday.

Other big catchers include India, Spain, Taiwan, Argentina, Mexico, Pakistan, the United States, Japan and Malaysia.

Only 13 of the top 20 catchers have developed action plans to protect sharks and it is unclear how they have been implemented or if they have been effective, the report said.

"The fate of the world's sharks is in the hands of the Top 20 shark catchers, most of which have failed to demonstrate what, if anything, they are doing to save these imperilled species," said Glenn Sant, Traffic's global marine programme leader.

(Editing by Maria Golovnina)

Top 20 shark-catching nations accused of failings
(AP) Google News 28 Jan 11;

ROME (AP) — Two environmental groups on Thursday accused the 20 countries that catch the most sharks of failing to fulfill promises made to the U.N. to better conserve the animals that are increasingly threatened with extinction.

In 1999, more than 100 governments adopted a plan of action at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization to try to stem overfishing of sharks, pledging, among other things, to develop national action plans to ensure that shark catches are sustainable.

The non-governmental groups Traffic and the Pew Environment Group said Thursday that only 13 of the top 20 shark catching countries had developed national plans, and that it was unclear if such plans had done any good where they were adopted.

They issued their report ahead of a meeting next week of government members of the FAO's fisheries committee, which will discuss the state of the world's fisheries in detail.

Some 73 million sharks are killed annually, primarily to meet the high demand in Asia for fins which are used in shark fin soup.

Because sharks are slow growing, late to mature and produce few young, they are unable to replenish their populations as quickly when they are caught. As a result, some 30 percent of all shark species are now threatened or nearly threatened with extinction.

Traffic and Pew analyzed fisheries data and made a list of the top 20 shark catchers which account for nearly 80 percent of the total shark catch reported globally. In order, the top 10 are Indonesia, India, Spain, Taiwan, Argentina, Mexico, Pakistan, United States, Japan, and Malaysia. Yet according to the two groups, Indonesia has only made a draft national plan and India is developing one. Other countries have adopted them but, because reporting is voluntary, it's not clear if they've been implemented or have done any good.

The groups urged governments at the FAO meeting next week to have the U.N. agency complete a thorough review to determine what countries have and haven't done to comply with their pledges to manage their fisheries.

"The fate of the world's sharks is in the hands of the top 20 shark catchers, most of whom have failed to demonstrate what, if anything, they are doing to save these imperiled species," said Glenn Sant, Traffic's global marine program leader.

Jill Hepp, manager of shark conservation for Pew, said sharks play a critical role in the ocean environment.

"Where shark populations are healthy, marine life thrives; but where they have been overfished, ecosystems fall out of balance," she said.

The report suggests that national action plans with lofty goals that are never implemented might not be the answer to saving sharks. Rather, countries that take smaller, incremental steps toward conservation might achieve better results.

It noted that Palau had announced in 2009 it would create the world's first shark sanctuary by banning all commercial shark fishing in its territorial waters and that Honduras had announced a moratorium on shark fishing last year.