At ICCAT meeting the EU has tabled proposals for two new recommendations prohibiting fishing for porbeagle and thresher and hammerhead sharks. The EU is also working with the USA and other members of ICCAT on a third proposal which would set precautionary catch limits for shortfin mako sharks. According to EU these proposals provide an opportunity to make substantial progress in bringing the management of shark fisheries in the ICCAT convention area into line with scientific advice.
ICCAT has already ban the fishing of bigeye thresher sharks on the basis of an EU proposal. The new proposal responds to the highly vulnerable status of all the thresher shark stocks in the Atlantic, and of certain key hammerhead shark species. The EU proposal said that the ban on fishing on all hammerhead shark species is based on the practical impossibility of differentiating between these species before they are taken on board, thus seriously jeopardising their chances of survival.
Porbeagle fishing is already ban in EU waters due to uncertainty of the scientific assessment of porbeagle in Atlantic waters. The draft proposal for shortfin mako proposes setting precautionary limits for sharks retained on board and landed from this stock, based on the average catch level over the period 2004-2009. This would effectively prevent any further expansion of this fishery beyond the levels of the recent past.
