Unique international initiative to prevent shark finning blocked

For sixteen years, the US, Belize and Brazil have been at the forefront of a multilateral initiative to strengthen the ICCAT finning ban by requiring that sharks be landed with their fins naturally attached, a policy widely seen as a best practice for law enforcement and also useful for collecting data on shark catches. This year, the proposal garnered a record 42 co-sponsors (approximately 80% of ICCAT Parties), but once again Japan and China blocked consensus. During the final hours of the eight-day meeting, Belize tried hard to settle the matter with a vote, a move rarely undertaken in consensus-based international fisheries bodies. Following strong opposition from Japan and confusion over the process, the president convinced the room to relent, leaving the issue unfinished.

Encourage liberation

“It is infuriating that a strong, enforceable ban on shark finning has once again been blocked by two countries, despite clear scientific advice and overwhelming support from both governments and conservationists. “This failure coincides with the 20th anniversary of an ICCAT ban on finning that is unacceptably difficult to enforce, so there remains a risk that some of the Atlantic’s most vulnerable animals will fall victim to egregious waste.” said Sonja Fordham, president of Shark Advocates International. “We encourage countries to continue to enforce naturally attached fin regulations at the national level and to advance this coalition’s unprecedented work to address the legal deficiencies underlying finning bans by all international fisheries bodies.”

The Shark League expressed its gratitude to Belize, the US, Brazil, Canada, the UK and the EU for persisting in their proposals to strengthen ICCAT’s ban on finning for so many years and welcomed the new support from the Republic of Korea, Costa Rica and the Philippines.

For two years, the United Kingdom succeeded in banning the retention and encouraging the safe release of manta rays and devil rays. The European Union, for its part, won similar protections for whale sharks and advanced its plans to propose extending them to basking and white sharks next year. However, the UK did not have enough support to organize a special meeting in 2025 that was to focus on curbing accidental mako mortality.

‘We are deeply grateful to the UK and the European Union for addressing gaps in the protection of a number of threatened species. Unfortunately, they have been overlooked by fisheries agencies, despite having long been protected by wildlife treaties,” said Ali Hood, Conservation Director at the Shark Trust. “We also highlight the need to extend safeguards to equally vulnerable sharks, such as mako sharks and marine threshers, which have not yet received sufficient conservation attention. “We also urge all ICCAT Parties to join the UK in reducing the egregious bycatch of endangered mako sharks as a matter of priority.”

The ICCAT Compliance Committee reviewed compliance with ICCAT anti-shark measures by reviewing reports from Parties. Mexico and Ghana were among the countries asked to justify the lack of shark data and regulations.

“Many countries have made progress in recent years in reporting their shark catches and the national regulations necessary to meet ICCAT shark conservation mandates,” said Shannon Arnold, Associate Director of the Ecology Action Centre’s Marine Programme. . “Despite these advances, there remain significant gaps in data and application. Of particular concern is the lack of reports on sharks discarded at sea by fleets and information on relevant national regulations, which are essential to verify compliance with treaty obligations. “These shortcomings reinforce the urgency for ICCAT to establish a transparent process to evaluate countries’ requests for exemptions from shark measures.”