PORTLAND (USA)- US federal regulators are reviewing the status of the porbeagle shark to determine if listing the species under the Endangered Species Act is warranted. The regulators say the porbeagle sharks are threatened by the shark fin trade and bycatch from other fisheries. They are popular as meat and with gameContinue Reading
SAN JOSE (COSTA RICA)- Government officials and environmentalists in Costa Rica are in disagreement on what to do with more than 1,200 kilograms of shark fins — the equivalent of about 2,000 hammerhead sharks — allegedly caught as bycatch and set to be exported to Asia. The disagreement extends to regulationsContinue Reading
2014 is over! But it turned out to be an exceptional year with more shark species receiving international protection and more water reserves to protect sharks and other marine species. Unfortunately of the west coast of Australia sharks are still under menace of the so-called shark cull. To look backContinue Reading
SAN JOSE (COSTA RICA)- Inspectors from the National Animal Health Service (SENASA) of Costa Rica found a large amount of shark fins from protected species among air cargo that was to be exported to Hong Kong. The illegal fins were found in a sample inspection of three sacks of shark fins to beContinue Reading
Modern day pirates cross the oceans not for gold, but for shark fins, writes Lindsay Jennings, researcher at the Marine Conservation Institute on Sharkdefenders.com. Illegal fishing leads to the indiscriminate catching of millions of sharks each year, driving down populations. Just to try to fulfill global demand for shark productsContinue Reading
AUCKLAND (NEW ZEALAND)- Good news for sharks in New Zealand waters. The government has fast-tracked a ban on shark finning. The new law will be effective from 1 October. Eventually the ban was to be phased in from 1 October, with full implementation by October 2016. After consultation with fishingContinue Reading
RAJA AMPAT (INDONESIA)- 13 Philippine fisherman were caught illegaly fishing for sharks and turtles in the Raja Ampat Archipelago in Indonesia. All of them were sentenced to 8 months in jail while the boat and all its equipment was confiscated and destroyed. It is not uncommon for illegal fishermen toContinue Reading