Shark action plan a step in the right direction to protect endangered species

By PRSD, on Thursday, February 5, 2009

posted by Cptn

The EU’s sharks action plan comes into being today. And, according to Neil Parish, Conservative MEP for the South West, it’s an important step in the right direction to protect of these vulnerable species.

The action plan not only builds up the protection of sharks in EU and international waters, but it also includes a number of measure to improve our knowledge of sharks and their role in the ecosystem.

Sharks are fished for their fins, as well as meat, skin and cartilage. Some species such as tope, also referred to as the soup-fin shark, are fished for sport. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a third of all sharks in the north-eastern Atlantic alone are threatened with extinction.

The EU should follow scientific advice and not allow the endangered shark species to be caught, as well as introduce rigorous controls on shark finning, says Neil – shark finning is where the fisherman cuts off the fins and throws the rest of the (often still alive) shark back in the water.

He told the PRSD: “The Shark action plan is a positive step forward for shark conservation but EU ministers now must back up this rhetoric and take dramatic action to save some shark species from extinction.

“All the positive proposals put forward in the commission’s action plan will come to nothing unless national governments agree to ban the fishing of some of the most endangered species.

“Our oceans’ ecosystems will collapse without sharks.”