The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International applaud the U.S. departments of Interior and Commerce for proposing international trade regulations to protect six shark species. The species are commonly exploited by the cruel and wasteful shark fin trade.
Proposals submitted by the United States and co-sponsored by Palau to add protection for oceanic whitetip, scalloped hammerhead, great hammerheads, smooth hammerheads, dusky and sandbar sharks to Appendix II of CITES will be considered at the upcoming meeting of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in March 2010 in Doha, Qatar.
"Shark fishing is largely unregulated, their populations are plummeting and the international shark fin trade plays a major role in this commercial killing," said Rebecca Regnery, deputy director of wildlife at Humane Society International. "If adopted, these proposals will result in better enforcement and a reduction in shark finning, which involves cutting off the fins and throwing the animal back in to the ocean to die."
Sharks are apex predator species and are crucial to the health of the oceans. They are being decimated each year, primarily to meet the demand for shark fin soup but also for their meat, skin and cartilage. Most shark species are slow to recover from over-exploitation due to late maturation, long gestation periods and small litter sizes. Scalloped hammerhead sharks are among the slowest to recover from over-fishing. Steep population declines in hammerhead species have been observed. These proposals, if adopted, would not ban international trade in these species but would instead help ensure that trade is properly regulated.
The oceanic whitetip shark is also experiencing significant declines and is one of the most common tropical species caught by tuna and swordfish fisheries. Due to low value of meat and high value of fins, these sharks are likely to be finned and discarded at sea.
These proposals join two other shark proposals being submitted by the European Union to protect porbeagle and spiny dogfish sharks. Similar proposals were submitted by the EU at the last meeting of the CITES Parties in 2007 and came close to being adopted.
Three shark species
Enviroshop is maintained by dedicated NetSys Interactive Inc. owners & employees who generously contribute their time to maintenance & editing, web design, custom programming, & website hosting for Enviroshop.