Commercial Sharks Still Circling Around Endangered Species

Jakarta Globe, Fidelis E Satriastanti, March 31, 2010

Sharks caught by fishermen at the port of Banyuwangi in East Java. Conservationists say growing demand for shark meat and fins around the region has drastically depleted stocks.  (AFP Photo)

No amount of scientific data will be able to protect endangered species unless countries have the political will to prioritize conservation over trade, environmentalists said following the disappointing CITES meeting in Doha last week.

The two-week meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ended without agreement on new trade measures to protect four species of shark with great commercial value — the Scalloped Hammerhead, Oceanic Whitetip, Porbeagle and Spiny Dogfish.

These species failed to make it onto CITES Appendix II, a second-level protection list, after big importing countries such as Japan, China and Singapore, with the support of Indonesia, one of the biggest exporters, voted down the proposals, keeping the sharks on the market and on seafood restaurant menus.

Marine expert Suharsono, who was a member of the Indonesian delegation to the CITES conference, said there was no controversy over the country’s decision to support the shark trade. He said numerous outstanding issues still had to be resolved before putting the sharks on the list.

“From a scientific point of view, the Indonesian delegation considered that the proposals were not based on complete scientific data and information,” he said. “The data presented to us came only from northern seas and the Caribbean, not worldwide.”

Suharsono added that no scientific findings had been presented on whether shark hunting caused environmental damage.

“The submitters relied a great deal on data from [the UN Food and Agriculture Organization] that shark populations are declining, but to us that was not strong enough,” he said.

The Doha meeting accepted 24 proposals, rejected 10 and seven were withdrawn.

Indonesia voted for all the conservation proposals except for those on marine species.

Its decision to reject efforts to conserve the sharks was criticized by Imam Musthofa Zainudin, the fisheries program leader at WWF-Indonesia, who said delegates should have put more trust in the scientists.

“The government did not feel confident about support the proposals because we still don’t have any data or information on the country’s shark populations, unlike for tuna, so it thought it was better for sharks not to be included in CITES,” he said.

“But these are critical species and numerous foreign research studies have over the years collected enough data and information to support protecting them.”

Imam said blaming its inaction on incomplete scientific data or information was “too cliched.”

“Scientific data supports the fact that these sharks are predators of the seas. If something goes wrong with them then it will affect the whole food chain,” he said. “It comes down to political will, as we know Indonesia is being criticized for being too pro-exploitation rather than supporting conservation.”

For Richard Thomas, communications coordinator at TRAFFIC International, the scientific evidence is incontrovertible and overwhelming that all the shark species up for listing are in serious decline .

“The scientific data is available and it is clear; the species warrant listing,” Thomas said.

“I believe the decision not to list shark species was not in the best interests of conservation. Unless measures are taken to protect sharks, their stocks will collapse and several species will soon become commercially, if not biologically, extinct.”

TRAFFIC says FAO data shows that from 2000 to 2008, Indonesia became the world’s top shark-catching country, with a total of 109,248 tons.

Imam said Indonesia had acknowledged sharks were in a critical state and needed more protection when it established a national plan of action for sharks.

“We have had our own national action plan for five years,” he said.

Even though it is not mandatory, the plan stipulates Indonesia’s commitment to ensuring the shark population does not decline.

“Since it was implemented we should have been preparing, doing more research to support data on our shark populations,” Imam said. “We should be embarrassed complaining that there is not enough research on the proposals to save sharks while not doing our own comprehensive research.”

Suharsono agreed Indonesia’s action plan on sharks had been poorly implemented.

Meanwhile, Willem Wijnstekers, secretary general of CITES, whose secretariat is administered by the UN Environment Program, said the rejection of more listings at the meeting reflected a transitional process of adjusting existing management of fishery stocks toward something more robust and coherent.

“The Doha conference was an important step in the long journey toward the conservation of commercial marine species,” he said. “The quality of the debate and the simple majority reached on three sharks and the red and pink coral proposals sent a strong signal to the international community on the urgent need to stop overexploitation.

“The results do not reflect well the real impact of this meeting, which will only be seen and understood when other international regimes discuss the fate of bluefin tuna and sharks in the coming months.”

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Indonesia Helps Defeat Hammerhead Shark Protections

Jakarta Globe, March 23, 2010

Hammerhead sharks are prized for their fins, which are used in traditional shark fin soup. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, file)

Doha, Qatar. Indonesia, Singapore and Japan teamed up to scuttle a U.S.-backed proposal to protect the heavily fished hammerhead shark at a UN wildlife meeting on Tuesday.

Tom Strickland, the U.S. Assistant Interior Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, argued regional fisheries bodies have done nothing to regulate the trade in endangered scalloped hammerhead, great hammerhead as well as the threatened smooth hammerhead, and their numbers have dropped by as much as 85 percent.

``The greatest threat to the hammerhead is from harvest for the international fin trade and the fin of the species is among highly valued of the trade,'' Strickland said. Shark fin soup is a much prized delicacy in China.

The measure was only narrowly rejected, failing by five votes to take the necessary two-thirds of the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species to pass.

The tiny Pacific nation of Palau, which last year created the first ever shark sanctuary, joined the Americans in introducing the proposal. It called on countries to protect the species so they can be fished well into the future.

``We must preserve for our children these amazing species,'' said Palau's Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Tourism Harry R. Fritz, adding that his country supports the protection of other shark species as well.

Japan, which successfully campaigned against an export ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna and regulations on the coral trade, led the opposition to the shark proposal. It argued that better enforcement, not trade restrictions was the answer. It also complained it would be difficult to differentiate the hammerheads from other species and would deprive poor fishing nations of much needed income.

They were joined by other countries dependent on the trade, including Singapore and Indonesia which catches the most sharks.

CITES was due to take up similar proposals to protect the oceanic whitetip shark which is also used in the fin trade, the porbeagle shark which is also killed for its meat and the spiny dogfish shark -- a chief ingredient of fish and chips and fish sticks.

Conservationist were outraged by the ruling, since it came after a string of defeats on marine species including a proposal last week on a shark conservation plan. Japan and China led efforts to kill that proposal as well.

Hammerheads, more than any other shark species, are killed for their fins and are the most threatened. Fishermen, both industrial and small-scale and many operating illegally, slice off the fins and throw the carcasses back in the ocean. There are as many as 2.7 million hammerheads caught annually.

Shark fin soup has long played central part in traditional Chinese culture, often being served at weddings and banquets. Demand for the soup has surged as increasing numbers of Chinese middle class family become wealthier.

AP

Princess of Whales

Kompas ,SATURDAY, 28 NOVEMBER 2009 | 6:52 AM

A Diver's Magical Encounter with A Smiling Giant of The Arctic Deep

KOMPAS.com - Hitching a ride on a Beluga whale's back, a daring diver glides through the icy waters of the Arctic. In an extraordinarily rare encounter between a human and this beautiful giant of the deep, the white whale is perfectly at ease with her new companion - and even appears to be smiling.

Which is just as well - as no one really knew how the Beluga would react to human company before Julia Petrik made this dazzling dive. For these muscular 16ft whales can get agitated if subjected to unwanted contact and aggressively defend themselves.

Thankfully, this magnificent individual was only too happy to let Miss Petrik gently cling on to him and took her for a spin through the deep.

The incredible pictures were shot beneath the pack ice in Russia's White Sea, where a pod of the magnificent Belugas are being studied for a conservation programme.

Miss Petrik is an expert free diver and is able to hold her breath for minutes at a time. This avoids the need to use bulky scuba tanks, which release bubbles that can disorientate the whales.

The lack of kit also gives her more freedom to move and synchronise her movements with the whale. The only downside is that free diving in icy cold water takes a heavy toll on the diver's respiratory system.

Julia Petrik had to saw through more than a foot of solid ice just to reach the freezing water below and wears a thick rubber suit to guard against the extreme conditions.

Beluga whales - the name is Russian for 'the white one' - can survive here because they are able to use their powerful bulk to butt through the ice to breathe oxygen, before submerging once again into the abyss.

Their domed foreheads contain a waxy substance, thought to be involved in their ability to communicate.

White charger: The three-ton Beluga gives Julia a glorious ride into the depths

They 'chatter' by whistling to each other - so much so that sailors and fishermen call them the 'sea canaries'.

Divers can spend weeks searching for Belugas in the wild, but some of the whales are being kept in a large netted enclosure to be studied.

Due to its high salinity, the water here freezes at a lower temperature than fresh water and can drop to a bone-chilling minus 2c. But Julia Petrik, given the ride of her life by this giant of the deep, soon forgot about the cold and was having a whale of time.

Editor: jimbon, Source : The Daily Mail

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Shark bite prompts surprise birth

BBC News

Sharks are known to bite each other in the wild

A pregnant shark at a New Zealand aquarium was bitten by another shark, unexpectedly releasing four baby sharks as visitors watched.

An aquarium spokeswoman said stunned visitors saw the injured shark and alerted staff that they had also seen things float from the gaping wound.

The babies were removed from the tank to prevent stingrays and other sharks from eating them.

When staff also moved the mother they found a further four sharks inside her.

The mother's wound was stitched by a vet at Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World in Auckland.

"She's doing well, but we're watching her closely as it's a one-off occurrence, so we're not sure how she'll do," a spokeswoman told the BBC.

All eight baby sharks survived.

Aquarist Fiona Davies, quoted by the NZ Herald website, said it was common for sharks to take chunks out of each other, even in the wild, but she had never heard of anything like this.

Ms Davies said the unusual delivery had probably saved the baby sharks' lives.

If the mother had given birth naturally, most likely at night, the babies would have been eaten by adult sharks and stingrays before staff could rescue them.

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Great whites near shore more often than believed

Shark experts surprised by research in Pacific

By Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, November 4, 2009

A white shark tagged with both acoustic (front) and pop-up satellite (rear) tags. The acoustic tag is detected when the shark swims within 250 m of a listening station, while the pop-up satellite tag records information about location, temperature and depth -- and relays it to the laboratory when the tag releases itself from the shark. (Scot Anderson )

For years, humans have thought of great white sharks wandering the sea at random, only occasionally venturing close to shore.

We were wrong.

Pacific white sharks spend months near the northern and central California coast between August and February foraging among elephant seals, sea lions and other prey, according to a new study published online Tuesday in the Proceedings of the Royal Society. The team of 10 California-based researchers determined that these sharks probably pass close to populated beaches and have been spotted as far inland as the mouth of the San Francisco Bay, east of the Golden Gate Bridge.

"It shows you how wild it is off our West Coast of North America. This is Yellowstone," said Stanford University marine sciences professor Barbara A. Block, who co-wrote the paper.

By tracking their movements, scientists determined that the fearsome predators make such precise, regular migrations each year between the California coast and the Hawaiian islands that they have become genetically distinct from their counterparts on the other side of the Pacific.

The fact that "a major concentration" of great whites can ignore the humans who might have crossed their path there "shows us the sharks are really minding their own business. The number of interactions with people is very small, considering," said Stanford University post-doctoral scholar Salvador J. Jorgensen, the paper's lead writer.

The findings represent nearly a decade of work, during which scientists tagged 179 great white sharks that roam the Pacific. They lured the creatures to their boat with a carpet decoy designed to look like a seal, and used a lance to attach the tags with the aid of 2.3-inch titanium darts.

They used three technologies to track the sharks' movements: satellite tags, which archive travel data by measuring the light in the sea and using astronomical math to determine where they are swimming; acoustic tags, which register a precise location when a shark comes within about 820 feet of a receiver; and mitrochondrial DNA sampling, which maps the animals' genetic lineage through their maternal line.

While researchers set up acoustic receivers in four central California locations where they knew the sharks would congregate -- Año Nuevo Island, South Farallon Island, Point Reyes and Tomales Point -- they discovered by accident that several white sharks entered the mouth of the San Francisco Bay. That is because the five great whites set off receivers established by another team, which had put them there to track migrating salmon.

Just as important, the scientists were able to determine through satellite tagging that great whites left the California coastline each winter and traveled 1,240 to 3,100 miles to the Hawaiian islands. Scientists have called a certain location along the route the white shark cafe, because they suspect that mating or foraging may take place there.

Tagging records from May and June show that male white sharks "converge in a very specific area of the cafe," Jorgensen said, while female sharks move in and out of the area. "It adds a little more evidence to the argument that this could be an important reproductive area."

Jorgensen said the great whites swimming off California probably descended from migrants that came from areas near Australia and New Zealand during the late Pleistocene Epoch, as many as 150,000 to 200,000 years ago.

The new findings have several significant conservation implications for great whites, which rank as one of the world's most protected shark species. Researchers are conducting a census of the creatures off California's coast because their exact numbers are unknown, and they may be able to identify areas of their migration routes that need additional protection.

Even Block, however, said she looks at places such as Carmel Point with a new perspective now that she knows the extent to which white sharks frequent the area. The scientists hope to put additional receivers near popular beaches to monitor shark movements.

"When I go to the beach there, I look at it differently," she said. "These animals are coming in so close to shore because that's where the pinnipeds [seals and sea lions] are."

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Scientists spent eight years tracking the movements of 179 great white sharks and discovered that these predators have very predictable migration patterns between Hawaii and the North American coast. Dots below show approximate locations where 68 sharks tagged with satellite sensors were recorded at various times.

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Dying whale shark found without external injuries

www.chinaview.cn, 2009-10-28 15:38:07

Members of the Philippine Coast Guard-Special Operation Group (PCG-SOG) tow a whale shark which fishermen found dying near Manila Bay breakwater, the Philippines, on Oct. 28, 2009. Coast Guard divers found no sign of external injuries on the whale shark. (Xinhua/Jonas Sulitr)

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Indonesia Asks Australia To Sink Vessels Poaching Sharks

JAKARTA, Aug 27 (Bernama) -- Indonesia has asked Australia to just sink boats found poaching sharks in waters in their common border areas because such vessels belonged to "mafia", Indonesia's Antara news agency reported.

Indonesian Marine Resources and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi said here on Wednesday that shark poaching in Indonesian waters bordering Australia was organised by mafia.

"This is a mafia game. Therefore, we have asked Australia to just sink the boats if they are found tresspassing the border," he said.

Freddy said the boats worth Rp30 million (RM10,457) each used by fishermen that often violated the border were procured by mafia members.

The shark fins that they had taken illegally meanwhile are worth billions of rupiahs and therefore they would never feel the loss when their boat was burned by Australian authorities, he said.

He also said the victims of the activity were fishermen because when they were caught they would be the ones sent to jail in Darwin.

It is difficult for us to blame fishermen because they do it just to make ends meet," he said.

In view of that he said in cooperation with the Australian government fishermen from Kupang were being led to conduct aqua culture to that they would not be lured to fish sharks.

"(Australia) indeed is very strict with regard to the shark issue and our fishermen have to follow their rules," he said.

Indonesian fishermen have so far violated the border three times to catch sharks, he said.

"Only five people have so far been caught and taken to Darwin," he added.

In view of that he called on fishermen in Kupang to stop catching sharks on the border between Indonesia and Australia.

RPT-FEATURE-Shark fin out of vogue among young Asians

Forexpros.com

By Ralph Jennings and Cheong Kah Shin, 2009-03-30 12:03:26 GMT (Reuters)

TAIPEI/SINGAPORE, March 30 (Reuters) - Singaporean groom Han Songguang took his campaign to stop consumption of one of Asia's top delicacies to a new level when he placed postcards of a dead shark on each guest's seat at his own wedding banquet.

Instead of shark's fin soup, a must at many ethnic Chinese wedding banquets, Han offered his guests lobster soup.

"If we can do our part to save 'X' number of sharks ... why not?" said Han, a geography teacher, who married a diving enthusiast in December.

Wildlife conservationists, who have long railed against the popularity of shark fin soup, are finally seeing signs that consumption is dropping as young Asians become aware of the environmental impact of this much prized dish.

Added to that is the global financial crisis, which is causing Asians to tighten their belts and either cut down on visits to restaurants or order more frugally from menus.

A symbol of wealth and status in Chinese culture, shark fin soup has long been an essential part of banquet celebrations for weddings and to welcome in the Lunar New Year.

Until recently, only the rich could afford the soup. But demand has soared in recent years, hand-in-hand with rising affluence in East Asia. The quantity of shark fins demanded, around 800,000 metric tonnes a year, has caused a sharp decline in shark numbers. About 20 percent of all shark species are now endangered.

Wildlife conservationists also decry the killing of sharks through "finning", whereby the fins are cut off and the live shark is tossed back into the sea. Unable to swim properly, the shark suffocates or is killed by predators.

"Today we have incredible access to information. It has become much harder to say 'I didn't know'," said Glenn Sant, marine programme leader of the British wildlife group TRAFFIC.

He urged young Asians to take a stand and say: "'It shouldn't be an insult not to put shark fin on our wedding menu'".

Despite efforts to ban "finning", environmentalists say it is still carried out across the region as fishermen want the valuable fin but don't want to store the rest of the shark as its flesh fetches low prices at fish markets.

CONSERVATION

As young Asians such as Han take a stand against shark fin soup, environmentalists hope for a long-term drop in consumption. Still there is a robust market of older consumers who demand the soup at auspicious events.

"Students and people in their 20s wouldn't go to a shark eatery, and $15 for a dish is no cheap price," said Joyce Wu, programme officer with TRAFFIC.

Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and China, including Hong Kong, are all major shark fin consumers, according to a TRAFFIC report. Trade in shark products was worth $310 million in 2005, with fins 40 percent of the total, the report says.

Those numbers are coming down as younger consumers eschew the delicacy of their parents.

Worldwide shark consumption dropped from a peak of 897,000 metric tonnes in 2003 to 758,000 in 2006, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation. Fins make up an increasingly small percentage of the total, TRAFFIC says.

Indonesia's overall 2006 haul of 98,250 metric tonnes compares to a 2003 peak of 117,559 metric tonnes, while Taiwan's 40,000 to 45,000 metric tonnes of shark caught per year is down from around 70,000 annually in the early 1990s.

Hong Kong shark fin hauls have held steady at about 10,000 metric tonnes per year since 2004, the region's government says.

"They live a long time. They have a low reproductive rate. In in other words they produce just a few young every year or every few years," said Yvonne Sadovy, a biology professor at the University of Hong Kong. "So you just can't take a lot."

CHANGING TASTES

Tastes have changed along with awareness for young Asians.

Shang-kuan Liang-chi, a National Taiwan University student who has tried the crunchy jelly-like dish twice at formal events, prefers other food and avoids a shark fin restaurant near campus. "University students never go in there," he said.

Even chefs are hoping to turn the tide. At Singapore's Annual Chefs' Association dinner, shark fin traditionally served at the occasion was taken off the menu.

"It is much harder to stop serving shark's fin in our restaurants as the consumers still demand it. However, in our personal capacity, we can make a stand," said Otto Weibel, a food manager at one of Singapore's top hotels.

Global entertainment giant Disney bowed to pressure from animal rights activists and took the delicacy off its menu when it opened Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005.

Some Asian fishery authorities have banned "finning" and monitor boats for illegal catches of endangered species.

"We care a lot about the problems that environmental groups have raised," said Chen Tain-shou, Taiwan Fisheries Agency deputy director-general.

Authorities in south China recently rescued a nurse shark from a tank after learning that it was to be slaughtered and its fins turned into soup for a 70-person banquet.

Shark fin sellers say their sales have also been tested by the economy. With Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong in recession, the restaurant business is flagging. Older consumers would buy more in better times, they say.

"If people are eating it, it's a major event," said Shen Lee-ching, a Taipei vendor of 30 years who sells dried fins by the bag for about $90 apiece. Some bags of dried, chopped fin have sat for years on her shelves.

In south China's hub city Guangzhou, the 1,200 dried seafood stores have seen shark fin prices fall by about 40 percent since the financial crisis began, said Wu Huihan, an official from the city's dried seafood association.

"People are keeping their money to spend on necessities, things that fill their stomach," said Singapore fin seller Jeff Poon.

(Additional reporting by James Pomfret in Hong Kong; editing by Doug Young and Megan Goldin)