Sharks at the End of the Line
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WildAid 450 Pacific Avenue, Suite 201 San Francisco CA 94133 415.834.3174 Fax 415.834.1759 [email protected] www.wildaid.org The END of the LINE ? global threats to sharks WildAid The End of the Line? © 2001 WildAid All rights reserved. Principal author Susie Watts Editors Peter Knights Juliette Williams Additional material, research and production Alexandra Sangmeister Victor Wu Bruce McCoubrey Rebecca Chen Mayuri Kanda Wai Yee Ng Alice Ng Cindy Arch Photos: cover © Doug Perrine back cover © Ben Cropp/Innerspace Visions this page © Bruce McCoubrey Design by Daniel Brown WildAid would like to thank the following (whose generous assistance in no way implies their agreement with or endorsement of the contents, conclusions or recommendations in this report): for the production and distribution of this report Wendy P. McCaw Foundation for supporting WildAid’s Shark Conservation Program Barbara Delano Foundation Homeland Foundation David and Lucile Packard Foundation AVINA Foundation Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund Wendy P. McCaw Foundation Wildlifeline for their assistance with information, photos, and WildAid support About Christopher Angell Mr Abdulrazak, Kenya WildAid’s Shark Conservation Program aims to: Peter and Wendy Benchley Nicola Beynon ❧ George Burgess Raise awareness globally about threats to sharks Merry Camhi Andy Cobb ❧Promote sustainable management of shark populations Leonard Compagno Mathieu Ducrocq ❧End the practice of finning globally Bob Endreson Mark Erdmann ❧Reduce excess demand for shark fin Sonja Fordham Sarah Fowler Malcom Francis In addition, WildAid is providing financial and technical support to the Suwanna Gauntlett Charles Goodfellow Galapagos and Cocos Island for patrolling and enforcing the Marine Reserves. Mr Ishmael, Kenya Clive James Kelly Kok Through the WildAid 100% Direct Fund all public donations can go straight to Mr K.H. Kwong field protection with no administrative or overhead deductions. Jerome Manning Rick Martin Bruce McCoubrey WildAid is a US registered public charity with offices in San Francisco, Bangkok, Neal Myerberg Wai Yee Ng London, Washington DC and Vladivostok. Linda Paul Amadou Saine Mr. Shafi, India WildAid provides direct protection to endangered wildlife. We train and equip Howard Shaw wildlife law enforcement teams in the field. We campaign nationally and Alex Smailes Malcolm Smale internationally for truly effective wildlife protection. We enlist local communities Colin Speedie in wildlife programs and help local conservation groups grow stronger. We John Stevens Carol Stimson launch innovative programs to educate the public about the importance of Tony Wu wildlife and healthy ecosystems. We use investigative research and mass publicity Columbia Tristar to expose illegal trafficking and to reduce the market for wildlife products. We Discovery Channel Asia help to preserve and expand wildlife habitat, so protected species can flourish Ocean Wildlife Campaign The Shark Trust once again. Universal Home Video Printed on recycled paper. To learn more visit www.wildaid.org Contents FOREWORD 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 AN INTRODUCTION TO SHARKS 6 HOW WE USE SHARKS 8 WHY WE NEED SHARKS 10 THREATS TO SHARKS BIOLOGICAL VULNERABILITY 14 INCREASING FISHING 15 OVERFISHING 16 BYCATCH 17 THE SHARK FIN TRADE 18 LACK OF MANAGEMENT 20 ENVIRONMENTAL PRESSURES 22 ILLEGAL FISHING 24 SPECIES AT RISK 26 COUNTRY REPORTS ASIA 32 AFRICA 42 LATIN AMERICA 46 EUROPE 49 NORTH AMERICA 50 OCEANIA 52 CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS 54 APPENDIX: PROBLEMS FACING GLOBAL FISHERIES 56 REFERENCES 60 Hammerhead sharks in the Galapagos Foreword Save Our Sharks ince earliest times, human beings have relied on wild This report is not a scientific study or a systematic global resources. For most of our history, we were just trade review. Rather it is an attempt to assemble a broad S another link in the food chain, another predator. overview in lay terms of the factors likely to affect the survival Increasingly our ever-expanding populations, our technology of sharks. And it is a call to action. and organization mean we have become a superpredator with Using sharks sustainably is not just an option for the poor few of nature’s checks and balances. We now farm resources to fishing communities that depend on shark meat as a protein produce them on the scale we desire—and fisheries are one of source, it is a necessity. Nor is it an option for those who wish the world’s last great wild harvests. Yet, in the last fifty years to continue eating shark fin soup. No sharks, no shark fin humanity has proven beyond a doubt that the oceans are not soup. It is sadly ironic that in countries such as Kenya and infinite. What seemed to be an inexhaustible supply as recently Brazil people are losing their subsistence food to supply one of as twenty years ago has, in many areas, been taken to its limits the world’s most expensive culinary items. and beyond. Leading marine biologists recently warned that As well as being a food security issue, it is likely that we had been wrong to suppose that we could not cause the removing sharks will have serious repercussions for many other extinction of a marine fish species—we are already doing this. species, which may ultimately disrupt fisheries with far greater Sharks are likely to be in the first round of marine economic value. We may only discover this when it is too late. extinctions caused by human activity. As top predators they What hope then for sharks, and ultimately the oceans? are naturally relatively scarce, but also highly vulnerable. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Some have gestation periods longer than an elephant, produce (FAO) has recognized the crisis and asked its 190 members to only a handful of young and take up to 25 years to mature. devise management plans by February 2001. However, the When they have faced directed fishing pressure, response of member states has been poor to date some populations have crashed, taking decades for “Sharks are and other international bodies have been slow to a stock to recover, if ever. play their role in conserving shark stocks. Though they have swum the oceans since before likely to be in Solutions will come only from a combination the dinosaurs, they have never faced a predator as the first round of actions: learning more about sharks, reducing voracious as industrialized humanity. of marine fishing pressure, stopping unnecessary bycatch, Traditionally they have been seen as more of a monitoring shark fishing and trade, and more nuisance by fishermen than a saleable commodity extinctions” effective enforcement of regulations. However, and so were relatively little impacted on a global none of these measures will be effective if the scale. Many of the poorest fishing communities demand for shark products— and in particular consume shark meat themselves as it has so little market value. the fins—is not reduced to sustainable levels. But in the last few decades the situation has dramatically This requires a truly global effort, but also strong changed. As other fisheries have been depleted, fishermen have leadership from Asia, where a dramatic leap in awareness, compensated with sharks. A relatively obscure custom of the concern and self-restraint among consumers is needed. There wealthy from southern China—using the needles of shark fins is nothing wrong with eating shark fin soup, there are just too in soup as an ingredient to add texture, but not flavor—has many of us doing it. The industry needs regulating to prevent burgeoned to the point where shark fin soup has become an stock depletions and the wastage of “finning”. Those who wish almost ubiquitous dish at weddings, banquets and business to maintain the tradition of shark fin soup should be the dinners throughout the Chinese world. What was once eaten loudest voices calling for regulation. on a special occasion by the privileged few is now regularly We still have an irrational fear of sharks which may eaten by hundreds of millions of people. explain our lack of will to conserve them. Perhaps because we The word has gone out to fishermen far and wide that shark fear the unknown and so much about sharks is still a mystery. fins mean money, regardless of whether the rest of the body is Yet increasingly the well-informed are developing a respect for dumped overboard. The shark fin trade has gone global. these magnificent predators, some of nature’s most successful Fisheries management for sharks has been left at the designs. Divers now cherish encounters with sharks, as starting block. Remarkably, no species of sharks is yet terrestrial tourists do with elephants and gorillas, suggesting protected internationally. There are few data and little new ways for us to profit from sharks without destroying them. monitoring of catches to alert us to population crashes. Only a handful of countries have any management of shark fisheries at all. The consequences are easy to predict, but hard to Peter Knights document, as so little reliable data is available. Executive Director, WILDAID © C. P. HUMANN/INNERSPACE VISIONS THE END OF THE LINE? 3 © P. COLLA/INNERSPACE VISIONS catches rose from 622,908mt in 1985, to over 800,000mt in Executive Summary 1998. A number of species are now considered endangered, Sharks have inhabited the world’s oceans for over 400 threatened or vulnerable. million years. They have widespread global distribution and No sharks are protected internationally. Only a handful of they play a vital role in maintaining the health of ocean countries manage shark fisheries. ecosystems. We utilize them for a number of products, such as meat, cartilage and fins. They are a critical food source for Artisanal fishermen in the developing world are losing their many in developing countries. They are an increasingly catches to modern technology. In many areas, shark important revenue source for dive tourism around the world.