Posted on 01 December 2022

PAC - OCEANS/SHARK/THREAT: ISLANDS BUSINESS

By Netani Rika in Da Nang, Vietnam

Two species of shark face extinction as one country refuses to accept measures which could significantly reduce their mortality.
 
Discussions in five years have failed to see an agreement on the prohibition of wire leads and shark lines on fishing vessels.
 
That means the critically endangered Oceanic White Tip and near-threatened Silky Shark will spend another 12 months facing lines and wires which mean near certain death.
 
Bubba Cook of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said the consensus-bases process of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission was an issue of concern in shark conservation.
 
"One of the problems with the process is that it only takes one member to veto an action," Cook said.
 
"We think it's simply absurd not to adopt the measures (to protect sharks) in total."
 
New Caledonia and French Polynesia have supported moves to revise fishing measures to protect sharks.
 
China, which has one of the world's largest fishing fleets, has not stated its position. 
 
Moves to prohibit measures harmful to sharks have been scientifically proven by the Pacific Community (SPC).
 
Shark lines and wire leads are the most significant causes of mortality in the region.
 
Oceanic White Tip stocks dropped 70 percent in the 50 years to 2021.
 
The 19th WCPFC Meeting is being held in Da Nang, Vietnam....PACNEWS

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