Atlantic manta rays, devil rays, blue sharks and whale sharks have greater protection after an international fisheries meeting, which ended Monday, approved provisional measures to safeguard them.
But Japan put the brakes on their implementation and measures to stop the finning of sharks — which threatens the survival of multiple species — at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) meeting.
More than a third of the world’s sharks and rays are threatened, 2021 research found.
“SA co-sponsored a proposal that sharks be landed with their fins still attached — the most reliable practice to enforce an end to shark finning. South Africa uses [this] best practice to ban shark finning ... which can also facilitate much-needed species-specific shark catch data,” said Sonja Fordham, president of Shark Advocates International.
South Africa has yet to use their significant influence ... to lead other countries toward better shark policies.
— Sonja Fordham, president of Shark Advocates International
SA, Namibia, Morocco, Ghana and Senegal are among the top 10 fishing and trading nations reporting catches to ICCAT, which has 52 member parties.
The Shark League for the Atlantic and Mediterranean — an international coalition of scientific and conservation bodies — released a report on “troublesome gaps” in fishing and data reporting ahead of the regional fisheries’ meeting.
All eight of the parties that failed to submit annual “shark check sheets” in 2022 were from Africa: Angola, Ivory Coast , Gambia, Grenada, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Mauritania and Namibia.
Moreover Namibia, Morocco, Ghana and Senegal do not report their “shark discards”, despite ICCAT requirements that they do.
Shark discards refer to sharks caught unintentionally and discarded at sea, either dead or alive. Sharks which are undersized, low value or from prohibited species for fishing are among the discards.
Recommendations from the Shark League analysis, to improve compliance, were taken up at the meeting last week. Fordham said: “After highlighting that endangered Atlantic mantas, devil rays and whale sharks lack critical high seas Atlantic fisheries safeguards, we welcome countries’ interest in closing these gaps.”
The overfishing of blue sharks was a hotly contested issue among the ICCAT parties, the Shark League noted. They agreed, however, to reduced quotas for heavily fished blue sharks, after an assessment that the existing catch limits were unsustainable.
“SA’s shark fisheries management is among the best on the continent, but the government has yet to use their significant influence at ICCAT to lead other countries towards better shark policies,” said Fordham, such as reducing fishing limits for blue sharks.
The EU — which catches more blue sharks than all other ICCAT parties — “insisted on higher and therefore riskier allotments”, while proposing a reduced South Atlantic catch limit, stated the Shark League.
“The compromise agreement reduces the North Atlantic catch limit by 23%, but the short-term chance of keeping within safe levels of fishing is about the same as a flip of a coin.”
Yet Ali Hood, director of Conservation for Shark Trust, said the blue shark compromise measures represented “steps in the right direction”.
Japan stalled proposals to ban the retention of manta and devil (mobula) rays and promote their safe release. “They will take effect only if all parties agree again after reviewing a 2024 evaluation by ICCAT scientists,” said the Shark League.
Japan delayed new safeguards for whale sharks, which were also made contingent on further review and consensus next year.
SA and Namibia — both top traders of vulnerable shortfin mako sharks — are choosing not to be bound by the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) rules around sustainable exports of shortfin and longfin makos, the Shark League noted.
“Shortfin makos are exceptionally vulnerable to overfishing, even by shark standards, reproducing at around 20 years of age and giving birth to relatively few young,” said Fordham.
“The North Atlantic population of this highly migratory species is known to be depleted and in decline ... the status of shortfin makos in the South Atlantic [fished by South African vessels] is less clear, but scientists have long warned of the likelihood that the population could follow a similar path to the North.”
Namibia ranks first of the African countries reporting shark landings, about five times more than SA (28,088 metric tonnes vs 5,541 metric tonnes). Namibia is fourth for landings of the highly migratory, pelagic shark and ray species falling under ICCAT.
The fishing and trade of hammerhead and silky sharks by Ghana, Senegal and Ivory Coast were flagged as concerns in the Shark League analysis.
ICCAT, which is responsible for the management of tunas, tuna-like species, sharks and rays in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas, bans the retention of at least nine shark species and encourages their release.
In 1980, relatively few shark and ray species were threatened, “but this changed soon after the emergence of targeted shark and ray fisheries,” wrote scientist Riley Pollom and his co-authors, including five from SA, in a 2022 journal article.
“SA has the highest national conservation responsibility, followed by Mozambique and Madagascar.”
To avoid extinction and “ensure robust populations and future food security” they recommended:
- urgent strict protection of critically endangered and endangered species; and
- sustainable management of all species;
- underpinned by species-level data collection and by-catch reduction.
Shannon Arnold, marine programme associate director for Ecology Action Centre, said: “We are pleased that our analysis of shark conservation implementation inadequacies within ICCAT has been integrated into [their] work. This underscores the importance of NGO participation in not only holding governments to account, but also contributing to more workable and effective processes.”
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