After years of international pressure, Mexico has introduced long-awaited regulations to protect several threatened Atlantic shark species — a move conservationists say could significantly strengthen global shark protection efforts.
The new rules, announced by Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development, prohibit the retention, storage, transshipment, and landing of bigeye thresher, oceanic whitetip, shortfin mako, hammerhead (except bonnethead), and silky sharks caught in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea and other Atlantic areas governed by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). Any of these sharks caught incidentally must now be released alive “in the best possible condition.”
The announcement brings Mexico into long-overdue compliance with shark protection measures agreed through ICCAT between 2009 and 2021 – commitments the country had previously failed to implement, despite being one of the world’s major shark fishing and trading nations.
“Although long overdue, Mexico’s new shark protections have the potential to significantly bolster international conservation efforts for some of the Atlantic’s most imperilled species,” said Sonja Fordham, President of Shark Advocates International. “These bans can also inspire other countries to follow through on their own treaty obligations.”
The move comes as ICCAT’s Compliance Committee prepares to meet next month in Seville, Spain, where it will review countries’ adherence to existing shark conservation measures. Mexico has frequently been cited by ICCAT for missing data, weak regulations, and lagging implementation of agreed safeguards.
“Most of the shark species now covered by Mexico’s bans – including the critically endangered oceanic whitetip and the exceptionally vulnerable bigeye thresher – were granted protection well over a decade ago,” said Ali Hood, Conservation Director at the Shark Trust. “We simply must pick up the pace and raise the priority for implementing these vital safeguards.”
The Shark League, a coalition of international NGOs focused on Atlantic and Mediterranean shark conservation, welcomed Mexico’s new measures as an important, if belated, step toward compliance.
“Because effective international conservation of migratory species depends on national follow-up, we’ll continue to highlight compliance gaps,” said Shannon Arnold, Associate Director at Ecology Action Centre. “We’re pleased to see Mexico finally following through – but many other ICCAT countries still have a long way to go.”
ICCAT, comprising 53 member nations, is responsible for managing tuna and tuna-like species in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas. The organisation’s shark-related measures rely heavily on national governments to implement bans and reporting obligations within their own fleets.
Mexico’s new rules – titled Agreement establishing various provisions on incidental catches of sharks in tuna fishing by larger longline vessels – are now in effect.
