Sharks

December, 2009

• 2 December

  DNA reveals origins of shark fin soup

  

  Every year, millions of shark fins are sold at Chinese markets to satisfy the demand for shark fin soup, a dish considered a delicacy, but it has been impossible to pinpoint which sharks from which regions are most threatened by this trade. Now DNA research has traced shark fins from …

November, 2009

• 18 November

  Mislabelling drives skate to brink of extinction

  

  Due to an 83-year-old error of classification, a species of European skate could become the first marine fish driven to extinction by commercial fishing, according to a study released on Wednesday. In the 19th century, scientists identified two separate species of the once-widespread European skate, the flapper skate (Dipturus intermedia) …
• 18 November

  Sharks under threat as environmental change bites hard

  

  Using information from two global datasets collected by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and FishBase, the Australian team behind the study has compiled the most comprehensive database yet of information about sharks, rays and chimaeras (a deep-water fish which also has cartilage instead of bones) and the …
• 17 November

  Sharks slaughtered to the brink of extinction

  

  Sharks have lived in the oceans for 400 million years and since they are at the top of the food chain, they have shaped the evolution of pretty much everything else that lives in the sea. It means that anything that puts sharks at risk could have profound effects on …
• 3 November

  Australia to pursue EU over gillnet fears

  

  Australia and New Zealand will raise with EU officials the issue of two Spanish boats using huge nets, known as gillnets, in waters between the two countries.  The governments are concerned the two vessels are using the nets, which have been banned in the North East Atlantic in waters deeper …

October, 2009

• 19 October

  Shark fin ban ends cruel slaughter

  

  A ban on shark finning in UK waters is to be introduced by the government, ministers will announce this week. The practice, which involves slicing fins from sharks at sea and dumping their bodies overboard – often while still alive – has been heavily criticised by campaigners and blamed for …
• 4 October

  Vulnerable thresher shark is killed and sold on the Spanish coast

  

  The harmless thresher shark that last summer was spotted at less than a mile off Vilanova y la Geltru in the northwest of Spain was finally killed yesterday by the longline vessel Antonio Mullor from this same fishing village. The 342 pound shark female that is thought was pregnant was …
• 4 October

  NOAA Gives Great White Sharks More Protection in Gulf of the Farallones Sanctuary

  

  New regulations to protect the great white shark are now in effect in NOAA’s Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, a marine protected area just west of San Francisco. The regulations, enacted by NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, prohibit activities that would attract white sharks anywhere in the …

September, 2009

• 30 September

  11 sharks found dead ashore in southwest Fla.

  

  Nine bonnethead sharks and two black tip sharks were found this morning washed up dead on Sand Dollar Island, a stretch of beach on Marco Island. Water samples showed oxygen and salinity levels were normal, and the water was “typically colored,” Collier County pollution control specialist Rhonda Watkins said today. …
• 28 September

  Boots to Withdraw Shark Product from Sale

  

  “LISA,” who discovered the shark cartilage on a shelf in the supplements section, said: “”I love Boots so much being a familiar UK brand and was so shocked to see shark cartilage being sold. Being a Padi dive instructor I have great beliefs in the environment and the protection of …
• 25 September

  Palau pioneers ‘shark sanctuary’

  

  Palau is to create the world”s first “shark sanctuary”, banning all commercial shark fishing in its waters. The President of the tiny Pacific republic, Johnson Toribiong, will announce the ban during Friday”s session of the UN General Assembly. With half of the world”s oceanic sharks at risk of extinction, conservationists …
• 11 September

  Mutilated sharks turning up in SA waters

  

  Foreign fishermen are continuing to hack the fins off sharks in South African waters and toss the animals back into the sea while they are alive. Most of the butchered sharks drown, starve or are eaten by other predators because they are no longer able to swim or hunt. “Finning” …