Indian Ocean Tuna Commission Fails Sharks

Fishing nations reject even bare minimum measures for threatened species

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, March 22, 2011 - Shark Advocates International is expressing deep disappointment at the
failure of Parties to the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) to act on shark
conservation proposals at their annual meeting this week. Proposed
protections for threatened hammerhead and oceanic whitetip sharks were
defeated and the ban on finning (slicing off a shark's fins and discarding
the body at sea) was not strengthened. Parties could not even agree to
require reporting of shark catch data for any of eight categories recommended
by scientists.

"The complete failure of Indian Ocean fishing nations to agree even the
most basic measures for the region's most endangered sharks is deeply
distressing and does not bode well for the future of these highly vulnerable
and heavily fished species," said Sonja Fordham, President of Shark Advocates
International. "We thank the European Union and Australia for their valiant
efforts to secure shark safeguards this week, and encourage their persistence
in carrying this work forward to next year's meeting."

The European Union (EU) had proposed protections for hammerhead and
oceanic whitetip sharks, and earned support from Australia and the United
Kingdom. Most developing countries, particularly India and Pakistan, opposed
protecting hammerheads. Japan led the charge to defeat the oceanic whitetip
ban despite championing the same measure at the tuna commission for the
Atlantic.

Australia and the EU proposed expanding the list of sharks for which
fishing data collection is mandatory by eight categories, as recommended by
IOTC scientists. Opposition from China, the Republic of Korea, and Japan led
to a compromise to collect data on fewer shark species, but the deal fell
through after Maldives, Sri Lanka, and India objected to the larger data
collection package.

The fins of hammerhead and oceanic whitetip sharks are prized for use in
shark fin soup, a celebratory Asian dish. Scalloped hammerheads, classified
by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Endangered,
are heavily fished, even as pups, and "very often" finned, according to IOTC
scientists.

Australia had also proposed changing enforcement rules for the IOTC
finning ban by requiring that fins be attached to shark bodies at landing.
Conservationist groups support leaving the fins on, but opposed options for
re-attachment. Parties did not reach consensus on these options.

Shark Advocates International (SAI) is a project of The Ocean Foundation.

Liz Morley, +1-843-693-5044