Spain: Industry leaders advocate improved fisheries management of shark catches

Industry leaders advocate improved fisheries management of shark catches

Tuesday, February 22, 2011, 03:50 (GMT + 9)

The Spanish Fisheries Confederation (Cepesca) reiterated its "absolute rejection" of shark finning and advocated the establishment of ratios or percentages of correspondence between the weight of fins and bodies for each of the shark species that are fished.

The organization believes that in this way, it will help to eradicate this practice, which involves cutting off shark fins and discarding the body.

While the specimens are released alive, then die off slowly.

According to the secretary general of Cepesca, Javier Garat, the profitability of the 250 Spanish longline vessels depend on full utilization of shark catches.

A total of 55 per cent of revenues from sales are obtained from the marketing of meat, with the remainder coming from the sale of fins, he said.

For Cepesca, it is necessary to amend the regulations governing the removal of shark fins on board vessels "to adjust to the reality of State fisheries, through the definition of Maximum Allowable Ratios (MAR) by type of fleet, species or species groups and product presentation, ensuring that the fins correspond to the bodies that are landed."

The Spanish longline fleet achieves an average annual catch of 45,000 tonnes of sharks, which is 7 per cent of worldwide shark catches.

Around 98 per cent of these vessels fish for blue and shortfin mako.

Garat said that chilled and freezer vessel owners categorically reject the practice of shark finning.

"Indeed, the economic viability of the longline fleet fishery is in the marketing of all the usable shark parts," he said.

He added: "Obviously, the simple approach to jettison part of this economic performance is completely absurd and has no logical justification as an economic activity on which many people rely on."

For its part, environmental organizations and representatives of the European Commission (EC) recognize that they do not have any arguments that allow them to accuse the EU fleet of finning.

"The Spanish and EU fleet does not practice finning and some ignore us when we explain that our methods have nothing to do with finning," says José Ramón Fuertes, director of the Cooperative of Shipowners of Vigo, and Concepción Ortega, of Espaderos Guardeses.

"We are the most interested in preserving resources, which is demonstrated by the fact that we were the first to stop catching species such as hammerhead sharks," he added.

He also stressed that finning is carried out by "other fleets, such as Asian ones, but not the Spanish."

"We comply with the law and what does not make sense is that the European Union imposed on us a lot of rules that harm us and in other areas do not apply, there should be rules for everyone," Fuertes told the newspaper Faro de Vigo.

Related article:

– EC moves to eradicate shark finning

By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com