According to NOAA’s Fisheries Service new measures have been outlined to prevent overfishing and rebuild the number of sandbar and other shark species. The authority has planned to invite public comment on the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) until May 19. The FEIS include revised quotas and a ban on cutting fins off before landing a shark.
It is told that the number of sandbar sharks is between 20 and 38 percent of the population in the early 20th century before fishing began on sharks. As per the recent stock assessments the sandbar, porbeagle, and dusky sharks are severely overfished and therefore drastic measures need to be taken to begin rebuilding.
It is fact that the sandbar sharks are one of the most valuable shark species caught commercially in the Atlantic Ocean. Among commercial shark landings sandbar sharks make up the majority due to their fins, which are the main ingredient in dishes such as shark fin soup. Jim Balsiger, acting assistant administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service, told that sandbar sharks, like other sharks, mature late, grow slowly and produce few young, making them particularly vulnerable to fishing pressure.
He also said that the outlines strong measures to stop overfishing on sandbar and other coastal sharks means to allow these species to rebuild. The commercial quota for porbeagle sharks is slated to be reduced from 92 metric tonnes a year to 1.7 metric tonnes each year. There are other measures in the final environmental impact statement which designed to prevent overfishing of several shark species.
