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Publications
N.R. Hareide, J. Carlson, M. Clarke, S. Clarke, J. Ellis, S. Fordham, S. Fowler, M. Pinho, C. Raymakers, F. Serena, B. Seret, and S. Polti
Strengthing European Fisheries Management: Options for Enforcing the Shark Finning Ban
Abstract:
European fleets are among the world’s leaders in fishing for sharks, reporting more than 13 percent of global landings to the FAO in 2004. The most valuable parts of most sharks are their fins, which are a delicacy in Chinese cuisine. Shark meat is less profitable, which results in a strong economic incentive to cut off the fins and discard the carcass back into the sea, a practice called shark "finning." This report is the culmination of an expert workshop examining European shark fisheries, trade and markets with a focus on means to enforce the European Union’s shark finning ban. The work, funded by the Lenfest Ocean Program, was convened in Brussels in October 2006 by the Shark Alliance. The purpose of the workshop was to describe and compare available data about shark fisheries, markets, trade and biology, and to develop science-based recommendations regarding precautionary and science-based conversion rates for shark products, particularly fin to carcass ratios or other methods that might be used to prevent the practice of shark finning. The report describes the current enforcement approach of applying a "fin to carcass weight ratio" as complicated and inadequate, and recommends landing sharks with their fins still attached as the best method for preventing finning.
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