Sharks Have Big Problems in the US Pacific -- Archive

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Subject: Sharks Have Big Problems in the US Pacific

Author:
Jim Morris

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Date Posted: 940294747PDT

Jim,

As the following is too important, I will make this my last post!:

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE
October 17, 1999 at 9 pm eastern time

Contacts: Carrie Collins, (202) 537-9166
Beth Falk, (202) 255-8833
Ann Brown (301) 986-5458

SHARKS HAVE BIG PROBLEMS IN THE US PACIFIC
Finning Ban Essential to Protect Sharks Off Hawaii
Report Rates Pacific States on Management of Sharks

(Washington, DC) -- Sharks have been fished in the U.S. Pacific Ocean for more
than fifty years, but their days could be numbered unless state and federal
fisheries managers step up shark conservation efforts, according to a new report
released today.

The report, Sharks on the Line II, was authored by Dr. Merry Camhi of the
National Audubon Society and released by the Ocean Wildlife Campaign, a
coalition of six major environmental groups. The report examines the status of
shark and skate (close relatives of sharks) fisheries and their management in
U.S. Pacific state and federal waters. It rates each of the five Pacific states
-- Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington -- based on the size of
their shark/skate fisheries and the following criteria, among others:

- Implements any regulations for these species;
- Imposes bag and size limits (limits on the number and size of the sharks
allowed to be caught);
- Protects particularly vulnerable species; and
- Explicitly bans the practice of shark finning.

California received the highest ranking because the state has actively managed
its shark fisheries over the past decade. Alaska came in second having recently
introduced limited precautionary management for sharks and skates. Washington
and Oregon tied with the third highest rating. Hawaii, to date, has a dismal
record on sharks and received the lowest rating.

Sharks -- because they grow slowly, mature late, and produce few young -- are
extremely vulnerable to overfishing. Demand for shark products, particularly
their fins, has led to the decline of many shark populations around the world.
The lack of information on the status of sharks and skates (a relative of
sharks) in U.S. Pacific waters coupled with increasing fishing pressure on these
fishes is cause for concern.

In 1998, recorded landings of sharks for the five Pacific states exceeded 10.4
million pounds. This is comparable to the shark landings (except for dogfish)
for all 18 Atlantic and Gulf Coast states -- where serious drops in populations
have forced federal and state officials to take action to protect sharks and
begin the slow process of rebuilding depleted populations.

"Management for sharks and skates in the Pacific is spotty at best," according
to Dr. Camhi. These vulnerable species receive little to no protection in most
state and federal waters. "Can shark and skates sustain the increasing catches
they're experiencing? We simply do not know." That is why the report calls on
states and the federal government to implement precautionary management for
sharks and skates throughout the Pacific region.

In general, most sharks and skates killed in US Pacific waters are not the
target of directed commercial fishing efforts -- they are caught unintentionally
in fishing gear used for other fish and often discarded. It is this bycatch
that is the biggest conservation issue facing sharks in the Pacific. In 1998,
at least 75 percent of the shark landings -- 8 million pounds -- were taken by
Hawaii's longline vessels targeting tunas and swordfish, and by Alaskan nets,
lines and trawls while hauling in gargantuan numbers of groundfish (cod,
pollock, sablefish, etc.). In Alaska alone, 2.3 million pounds of sharks and
47.8 million pounds of skates were caught in 1998 - the vast majority were
discarded dead.

US Pacific sharks may be in the most danger in Hawaiian waters, where the number
of sharks killed in the longline fishery has skyrocketed by 2500 percent over
the past 8 years. In 1991 less than 3,000 sharks were killed, but by 1998,
61,000 of the nearly 100,000 sharks caught on longlines were killed. This
amounted to 6.3 million pounds of landings -- more than the other four Pacific
states combined. Of these sharks, 98 percent were taken only for their fins,
which are in great demand in Asian markets for shark fin soup.

Finning -- cutting off the shark's fins and tossing the dead or dying animal
overboard -- has been outlawed in the Atlantic, Gulf and Caribbean, but is on
the rise in US central and western Pacific waters. Failure of the Western
Pacific Fishery Management Council (WesPac), the body responsible for sharks in
the region's federal waters, and the Hawaiian state legislature to halt the
practice of finning has led the U.S. Congress to get involved. Representative
Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) recently introduced a resolution urging regional
fishery managers to immediately prohibit finning in the U.S. Pacific.
Legislation amending U.S. law to prohibit the practice is expected to be
introduced later this fall.

Conservationists, fishers, scientists, and the public continue to call on WesPac
to ban finning at its next meeting in Honolulu on October 18-22, and implement
shark fishery management. "Simply prohibiting finning and requiring the live
release of all sharks brought to the boat could immediately reduce shark
mortality by approximately 86 percent," stated Dr. David Wilmot, Director of the
Ocean Wildlife Campaign.

A quick survey of the other Pacific states reveals a mix of shark perils and
protections.

In Alaska, where the state is to be commended for banning all targeted
commercial shark fishing, enormous bycatch of sharks and skates in the
groundfish fisheries continues unabated. Although 1.7 million pounds of sharks
were reported landed in 1998, mortality is actually much higher because many
more sharks are caught and discarded dead.

California is the only Pacific state with large commercial and recreational
fisheries that target sharks. It ranked third in Pacific shark landings, with
1.2 million pounds in 1998. It is also the only state that actively manages
both its commercial and recreational shark fisheries with a suite
of shark-specific regulations in both state and federal waters. This includes a
prohibition on the landing of fins unless they are attached to the shark.

Washington is the only state with a directed commercial fishery for spiny
dogfish; landings of other sharks are extremely minor. Dogfish catch rates have
declined in recent years, yet no management for dogfish is in place.

Oregon is a minor shark-fishing state. It has no directed shark fisheries and
sharks are rarely taken in the bycatch of other fisheries. However their skate
landings have exploded since 1994.

With shark landings that exceed the four other states combined, Hawaii has
implemented no management for sharks that are taken in huge numbers in the
bycatch of the longline fishery targeting sharks and tunas. It is also the only
state where the practice of shark finning proceeds without constraint.

Also of concern, skate landings in three out of the five states -- California,
Oregon, and Washington -- have skyrocketed in recent years, yet none of these
states regulate their fishing for skates. In Alaska, nearly 48 million pounds
of skates were caught and discarded in 1998.

In addition to asking state officials to escalate their shark conservation
efforts, the Ocean Wildlife Campaign is pushing for federal management of sharks
and skates in US Pacific water. Now there is none.

The Ocean Wildlife Campaign is a coalition of the Center for Marine
Conservation, National Audubon Society, National Coalition for Marine
Conservation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Wildlife Conservation Society,
and World Wildlife Fund. It was created to tackle the complex challenge of
conserving and restoring large ocean fishes, including sharks, tunas, and
swordfish. The Ocean Wildlife Campaign is generously supported by the Pew
Charitable Trusts, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
###

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Replies:

Subject	Author	Date
Good info Thanks for the post	Jim Day	940296478PDT