WIREDGOV

Shark finning regulations were strengthened by new permit controls announced today by Fisheries Minister Huw Irranca-Davies.

Special fishing permits for English, Welsh and Northern Irish registered fishing boats allowing the removal of shark fins at sea are to be stopped. Scotland will simultaneously be announcing plans to cease issuing permits to their fleet. Any sharks caught by UK registered vessels will now have to be landed with the fin attached.

Shark finning is the practice of removing fins from the shark and disposing the carcass at sea.  The high price for fins gives an incentive for this wasteful practice. 

UK Fisheries Minister Huw Irranca-Davies said:

“I want the UK to lead the way worldwide in helping to protect these vulnerable species. By stopping these permits we will ensure that the wasteful practice that sees fins cut from sharks and the bodies left at sea does not happen. We’ll also be able to gather more scientific information to help shark conservation by more easily seeing which sharks are being caught and where.

“I’ll be writing to the European Commission asking them to review legislation to ensure all sharks caught in European waters will be landed with their fins attached.”

Ali Hood, Director of Conservation for the Shark Trust commented: 
“The Shark Trust was instrumental in the adoption of the first EU finning legislation and has long advocated for an end to the loophole which allows the provision of permits for the removal of shark fins at sea.” 

“The Trust strongly supports Mr Irranca-Davies for taking such a positive stance and ensuring UK vessels now adhere to the actual intention of the EU shark finning regulation - that no fins are removed at sea – a crucial step towards improving shark management and reducing the enforcement burden.

“The Shark Trust will continue to advocate for a full review of the EU Finning Regulation with the aim that all EU Vessels land sharks with fins naturally attached – the Trust applauds the Minister for taking the further step of formally requesting the Commission address this as a matter of urgency.”

Notes to editors

1. The EU introduced Council Regulation 1185/2003 which prohibits the removal of shark fins at sea.  However, where justification has been provided Member States are able to derogate from this by issuing a special fishing permit. The permit can allow vessels to process sharks and fins separately on board vessels and land or tranship fins separately as long as the carcass is fully utilised. Due to the variation of weight between shark species, there’s a risk that a certain amount of carcasses could be discarded.

2. We have no evidence or reason to believe that there has been any such misuse by UK registered vessels. In fact the UK have never utilised the full scope of the derogation because our permits required that the fins and carcasses had to be landed together and could not be transhipped separately.

3. This decision not to accept the justification for issuing any permits will send the strongest possible conservation message to countries where controls are less stringent and enable the UK to lead the proposed review of the Regulation 1185/2003 at a European level. It will also bring easier enforcement of catches as finned shark species can be difficult to differentiate. This has the added benefit of increased scientific data on catch compositions, that can be used to determine the state of stocks and therefore further conservation and management measures.

4. Sharks are rapidly depleted by overfishing and slow to recover as they grow slowly and have few young. It is essential to take proactive conservation measures such as this to best maintain sustainable, responsible fisheries, ensuring that these species remain in their crucial place in the marine ecosystem.

Further information

• Sharks