Proposals from the European Community (EC) and Australia that threatened to create new loopholes in the Indian Ocean ban on shark finning were defeated recently at the annual meeting of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), says the Shark Alliance.
The outcome resulted in a statement from Australia in favour of prohibiting shark fin removal at sea altogether, as recommended by conservationists and scientists.
The EU had proposed two new options to replace the existing method for enforcing the IOTC finning ban with methods which involved placing severed shark fins in plastic bags or numbering and separating storing bodies and fins. Australia proposed a similar option for storing fins attached to shark bodies, but not necessarily in plastic.
"We are pleased by the defeat of the dangerous EC proposals that threatened enforcement of the Indian Ocean shark finning ban and promoted increased use of plastic bags at sea; however the Shark Alliance remains concerned that the IOTC did not adopt its scientific committee advise to require that sharks be landed with their fins naturally attached, which is by far the best method for preventing finning and collecting shark fisheries data, " said Sonja Fordham, Shark Alliance Policy Director.
"We encourage the European Commission to collaborate with its conservation community and not only its fishing industry when developing and negotiating international shark fishing proposals," Ms Fordham continued.
Shark Alliance representatives brought to the meeting a letter signed by 70 conservation, scientific, fishing and diving organisations opposing both proposals because of concerns about enforcement and risks that plastics pose to wildlife. The 70 groups called on the IOTC to instead simply ban the removal of shark fins at sea.
During the IOTC meeting, the EC and Australian proposals were merged and the reference to plastic removed, but loopholes that could allow unpunished finning remained. Opposition to changing the finning ban's ratio from Japan and Korea resulted in the defeat of the joint proposal. Australia reacted by expressing a general view that landing sharks with their fins naturally attached was the best option for dealing with the associated scientific and enforcement issues.
