EU-voorzitter Tsjechië wil onderhandelingen over beschermingsplan haaien versnellen (en)

The Czech Presidency wants to speed up negotiations on the European Commission’s long-awaited breakthrough plan to protect sharks.

On 5 February the Commission presented its very first comprehensive set of measures to limit catches and protect endangered species of these animals. The world population of sharks is rapidly dwindling and the measures to protect them are insufficient. According to the Commission proposal, fishing for deep-sea sharks should be halved this year and banned completely in 2010.

“Immediately after the presentation of the action plan we included it in the Council negotiations. We take this issue very seriously and as the country holding the Presidency we will treat is with the seriousness it deserves. Therefore, we want to make the biggest possible contribution to a rapid solution,” said Minister Gandalovic. “In April we will bring the case before the Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries. We hope to be able to adopt the Council conclusions already at the meeting in April.”

According to the UN, tens of millions of sharks are killed every year across the world. Scientists estimate that 90% of all large fish, including sharks, have disappeared from the seas of the world since 1950. Furthermore, sharks reproduce very slowly and it will take decades before numbers are replenished in the areas where they were exterminated. A recent survey from the International Union for Conservation of Nature shows that overfishing presently threatens one third of the species of shark that are caught in EU waters.

Despite the vulnerability and increasing importance of these populations, the EU has never systematically controlled shark catches. In the past few years the Commission has proposed zero catches or a significant decrease of fishing mortality within the EU as well as in several regional organisations for fishery control. Among the significant shark localities are Spain, Portugal, Great Britain and France. However, limits of fishing efforts either do not exist at all in these areas or they abide by excessive quotas.

Although these dreaded creatures are considered to be the most dangerous sea predators, according to European Commissioner responsible for fisheries and maritime affairs Joe Borg i, sharks, in particular, need our protection; and people are much more dangerous for sharks than sharks are for people.

Especially the protection of deep-sea sharks that are fished for meat but also valuable liver oil, which is used in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry, is of importance.

This plan includes a proposal for a ban on shark catches solely for fins, which are used for a famous culinary specialty, and determination of areas where shark catches should be banned. These measures should affect all chondrychthyes, not only sharks, and will be effective in all areas of operation of the EU fleets and not only in European waters. The action plan further intends to focus on shark life and environment research. According to the regulation, information on the role of sharks in the ecosystem and the development of their population should be used to determine quotas for the fishing efforts, protection of endangered species and application of existing agreements on protection of freely living animals to sharks.

Contact: Tereza M. Dvorácková, spokesperson of the Ministry of Agriculture for the Presidency tel.: +420 221 813 063, mobile: +420 737 213 030; e-mail: tereza.dvorackova@mze.cz