Bleeding the Oceans Dry - WildAid

P r e s s u r e s o n s h a r k sP r e s s u r e s o n s h a r k sOverfishing“Recent estimates indicate that exploitation has depleted large predatory fishcommunities worldwide by at least 90% over the past 50-100 years.”— M y e r s & W o r m , 2 0 0 5 3Shark fishing has reacheda critical level in recentyears, with more than125 countries now engaging inthe trade of shark products 4 .Between 1984 and 2004, reportedworld catches of sharks grew bymore than 200,000 tons 5 , and theannual reported catch now restsat approximately 800,000 tons 6 .But these are only the reportedfigures. Based on shark fin tradedata it is estimated that 30 - 52million sharks, equivalent to asmuch as 1.73 million tons ofsharks, are caught and killed eachyear. Depending on statisticalanalysis, this figure could be ashigh as 79 million sharks a year 7 .1000000Total Fishery Production for Sharks (ISSCAAP Group)The increases in globalshark catches are deceptive inthat they are indicative of thetechnological advances in fishingefficiency and a wider geographiceffort, rather than a sustainedor greater supply of sharks.In fact, many shark stocks areactually decreasing dramatically.This is because sharks are nowtargeted in areas where they werepreviously unexploited and aretargeted more intensely than everbefore. In many cases, more andmore juveniles are being caught,so while catches are sustained orincrease the stock may be headedtoward collapse. Vague categoriesin catch data also act to disguiseBelow: Totalfishery productionfor all speciesof sharks, skatesand rays, from allareas submittinginformation tothe FAO, 1950-2006 10these declines, and so fishingin an area with no sharks butincreased catches of rays wouldstill indicate an increasing catch.Overfishing is one of, if notthe, single greatest threat tosharks, pushing many speciesto the brink of extinction 6 . As awhole, a third of pelagic sharksare threatened, but of thosetargeted by high-seas fisheriesmore than half are at risk 8 .Recent studies have observedglobal declines in predatory fishbiomass to around 10% of preindustrialabundance 3 . Somefisheries have shown up to a 99%loss of sharks 9 .900000800000700000600000Tonnes50000040000030000020000010000001950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006YearTable 1 Major importers of key shark products, 2000-2005Fresh/chilled shark meat (not fillets) Fresh/chilled and frozen shark fillets Fins, dried salted Fins, otherSpain italy China, Hong Kong China, Hong KongUSA Spain China indonesiaItaly France China, Macao taiwanMexico germany malaysiaUK greece thailandSource: FAO, 2007 cited in Lack & Sant, 2008 118 b l e e d i n g t h e o c e a n s d r y