EU wants more sharks in the sea, less in soup pots

By HOLLY FOX

The Associated Press

February 5, 2009

BRUSSELS (AP) - The EU wants more sharks in the sea and fewer in the soup
pot.

The European Commission proposed its first-ever shark conservation rules
Thursday, trying to reverse the decline in sharks in European waters.

"Many people associate sharks with the cinema, more than with restaurants,"
said EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg. "But the latest information we have
confirms that human beings are now a far bigger threat to sharks than sharks
ever were to us."

Borg said sharks, because of their long life spans and low fertility rates,
are very vulnerable to overfishing. A recent study by the International
Union for the Conservation of Nature suggests as many as one-third of the 80
types of sharks caught in EU waters are now threatened by overfishing.

Borg proposed plugging loopholes in a 2003 ban on shark finning - the
practice of hacking off shark fins and throwing the body back - and steps to
reduce accidentally catching sharks while hunting other fish and to increase
monitoring of shark catches.

The proposals still need to be drafted into law and approved by the EU's 27
nations.

But the EU's highly publicized move drew only lukewarm support from
conservation groups, with the Madrid-based advocacy group Oceana calling it
"vague" due to a lack of timelines and fishing limits.

Europe is a "major player" in the shark trade, with EU countries accounting
for 56 percent of shark meat imports and 32 percent of exports globally,
according to Julie Cator, Oceana's policy director.

The group said shark steaks are increasingly served in restaurants,
replacing pricier swordfish steaks, and shark products are also finding
their way into lotions and leather sports shoes.

Restaurant menus disguise shark dishes with less scary names, including Rock
Salmon in Britain, Chien de Mer in France and Cozon in Spain.

"Consumers need to be made aware that sharks are a species that need
conserving," said Cator.

Shark fishing in the EU is not illegal, but conservationists call it a
"forgotten species" - one that escapes EU monitoring and fishing quotas that
exist for hake, cod, plaice, whitefish, herring and fish.

In addition to sharks, the new EU proposal also covers related species as
skates, rays and chimaeras in waters where EU fisherman operate.

Shark fishing has grown rapidly since the mid-1980s, driven by a rising
demand in China for shark fin soup, a highly prized symbol of wealth.