We are backing a groundbreaking new agreement by dozens of tuna-fishing nations to help the endangered shortfin mako shark recover in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Years of overfishing have cast a shadow over the future of the endangered shortfin mako shark, with numbers nosediving by 79% over the past 70 years in the North Atlantic. So it’s great to report that, after years of advocacy by WWF and others, 52 tuna-fishing nations and the EU have finally agreed to support recovery efforts.
This is the first ever shark or ray recovery programme to be adopted by a regional fisheries management organization. Measures agreed by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) include requiring tuna fleets for the next two years to release all shortfin mako sharks they catch, and not to trade any that have died.
This is vitally important news for the future of shortfin mako sharks, which have long needed to be better looked after. The species, which is both targeted by some fisheries and caught accidentally, is extremely vulnerable to overfishing. Females only start to breed at around 20 years of age and have long reproductive cycles, making the recovery of the species even more difficult.
Tuna fleets have a strong incentive to take part in the scheme as ICCAT scientists will monitor the shark’s recovery. Depending on how well things are going, options range from allowing fisheries to keep a limited number of sharks that are already dead to closing fisheries for certain periods.
TACKLING CATASTROPHIC DECLINE
We believe these measures can help the shortfin mako shark recover and are now urging ICCAT to immediately introduce and enforce the programme.
We are also calling on regional tuna fisheries management organizations in other parts of the world to introduce similar measures to address the catastrophic decline of many shark and ray species.
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