Since 2015 the export of shark fins has been banned in India, thanks to the good work of Humane Society International/India and People for Animals. Petitioners sought to have the ban lifted and appealed to the Kerala High Court, claiming the ban affected “their fundamental right to trade. Last weekContinue Reading
CANCUN (MEXICO)- Every year between may and September whale sharks gather off the Caribbean coast of the peninsula of Yucatan. The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources has decided to protect these gentle giants by creating an official refuge area of 633,000 hectares. The Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources, through theContinue Reading
WASHINGTON (USA)— The US National Marine Fisheries Service this week protected the oceanic whitetip shark as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The decision recognized threats from overfishing and bycatch in pelagic longline fishing gear as major reasons for drastic population declines. The listing responds to a petition from Defenders of Wildlife, with supportContinue Reading
BALLINA (Australia)- The tide is turning in Australia. More and more Australians are against lethal measures to keep sharks away from their shores such as shark culls, shark nets and drumlines. Website The Conversation did a public survey showing how the public is fed up with killing sharks to preventContinue Reading
MARRAKECH (Morocco)- Bad news for the shortfin mako shark. Fishing nations gathered for the annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) have failed to adopt recommended limits to protect shortfin mako sharks from overfishing or strengthen the regional ban on shark finning. The onlyContinue Reading
MACAU (CHINA)- Shark fin re-exports from Hong Kong to Macau rose a staggering 62 per cent in 2016. This is the first time re-exports to Macau exceeded those to mainland China. Where the re-export was 88,029 kilos in 2015 last year these were 143,396 kilos, says World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF). According toContinue Reading
NABIRE (PAPUA)- The whale sharks of Cenderawasih Bay National Park, Papua, also known as ‘The Galápagos of the East’, have become a main tourist attraction. In 2012, the park listed 1,764 foreign and local tourists and in 2016 this was over 4000 foreign and local visitors. The chance of meeting one of theContinue Reading