Ocean Sentry
The 175-nation Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has rejected U.S.-backed proposals to regulate international trade in a variety of endangered species of shark. Asian countries, led by Japan, voted against the proposal in Doha Tuesday, preventing it to win two-thirds majority by narrow margin. Japan in …
March, 2010
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18 March
Dubai hotel frees Sammy the whale shark
A rare whale shark that was a hotel attraction in Dubai has been returned to the wild, the resort said on Thursday, following an international campaign against the captivity. Sammy, a freckled whale shark that is an internationally protected species, had been kept inside a lobby aquarium at Dubai”s upscale …
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17 March
Shark conservation proposal defeated at UN meeting
China, Japan and Russia helped defeat a U.S.-endorsed proposal at a U.N. wildlife trade meeting Tuesday that would have boosted conservation efforts for sharks, expressing concern it would hurt poor nations and should be the responsibility of regional fisheries bodies. The opposition to the shark proposal came hours after the …
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13 March
Lucrative shark trade under scrutiny
As climate change transforms the acidity and oxygen levels of the world”s waters with devastating effects for some marine species, others are facing an even more immediate threat from human consumption. To reverse that unsustainable trade, an unprecedented number of aquatic species have been proposed for listing on the Convention …
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9 March
Maldives ban fishing of sharks
The Maldives will make its territorial waters into a shark sanctuary, a government official said Tuesday, lending momentum to efforts to protect the fish at a United Nations endangered species conference that begins this week. “We’ve decided to go ahead with a shark fishing ban,” Ibrahim Didi, the fisheries and …
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4 March
Local divers save a shark
Two South Florida divers had a close encounter few would believe. They came face to face with a shark that had a plastic ring around its neck. John Dickinson and Chip Garber not only saw it, they have proof. They videotaped it. They were with a group that was diving …
February, 2010
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19 February
Great white sharks ‘more endangered than tigers’
Great White Sharks are now even more endangered than tigers, according to a leading marine biologist. Dr Ronald O”Dor, senior scientist at the Census of Marine life, said that a new study had shown that numbers had dropped below the 3,500 tigers that exist in the wild. Scientists had been …
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17 February
Divers find whale shark with fins, tail sliced off
A dead whale shark without fins and a tail was buried on the shores of Tingloy Island on Tuesday morning, inscribing a sad epilogue to a Manila conference of 50 nations for the protection of the endangered fish species. Locally known as “butanding,” the juvenile whale shark (Rhincodon typus) was …
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16 February
Migratory sharks need global protection: U.N.
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 …
January, 2010
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12 January
Sharks at risk over vaccine
The massive production of a virus to protect humans against the swine flu virus (H1N1) is posing a direct threat to various species of deep water sharks. According to an article posted on Tuesday by Simply Green Online, a South African website focusing on green news and information, the sharks …
December, 2009
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18 December
Yao Ming aims to quell China’s appetite for shark fin
NBA star and Shanghai Sharks owner Yao Ming urged China on Friday to say no to shark fin soup to stop the overfishing of some species amid growing demand for the delicacy. The Houston Rockets centre who recently bought his hometown”s professional team, unveiled a television commercial aimed at wealthy …
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8 December
Off the menu: billboards in China to save sharks
Each year, the fins of 73 million sharks are sold in markets in Hong Kong with most being shipped to China for soup – but shark populations can”t sustain the rate at which they are being killed and are being fished to extinction. American charity Shark Savers and WildAid are …