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Tuesday, 16 February 2010 17:31 |
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 The first global agreement to conserve sharks was signed last week in Manila, but no management plan is in place. Migratory sharks, including great white and whale sharks, are under serious threat from fisheries and finning.
"Sharks are one of the most seriously threatened taxonomic groups in the world," said UK-based Sarah Fowler, co-chair of the Shark Specialist Group, which is part of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The IUCN Red List 2010 estimates that 17% of the 1,044 known shark species are threatened. Of these, "the migratory sharks are the most vulnerable to extinction," said Fowler.
Migratory sharks travel large distances and cross national boundaries, such as the Whale shark, which travels 13,000 km across ocean basins - but currently there is no standard for international management.... Read Full Article by Caitlin Howlett
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