ICCAT adopts ban on "shark finning"

Finning occurs when commercial anglers remove a shark's fin (a delicacy in Asian markets) and throw the rest of the carcass overboard.

The U.S. ICCAT delegation introduced the shark proposal early in the meeting. The delegation is led by Dr. Bill Hogarth, Assistant Administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service, and coordinated by VIMS fisheries scientist Dr. John Graves. Graves has chaired the U.S. ICCAT Advisory Committee for the past nine years.

"The ban on shark finning was a major move by ICCAT," says Graves. "It increased the scope of the convention, moving it from just managing the target species to managing bycatch. ICCAT is the only regional fishery management with competence throughout the Atlantic, so it makes sense that they should be responsible for managing all pelagic resources."

In addition to the U.S., the resolution was co-sponsored by the European Community, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Panama, South Africa, Trinidad & Tobago, and Venezuela. It requires other shark-fishing nations to adopt procedures already followed by U.S. fishermen and resource managers. The U.S. banned shark finning by anyone under its jurisdiction in 2000 (The Shark Finning Prohibition Act (PL 106-557)).

The ban includes provisions that will allow enforcement. "It is now the responsibility of each member nation to implement the ban with domestic measures," says Graves.

The ICCAT ban is based on a recent stock assessment suggesting that some pelagic sharks, particularly shortfin makos, are in danger of being overfished—both as a targeted species and as bycatch in the longline fishery for swordfish and tuna.

"The stock-assessment results didn't demonstrate an immediate need for management measures," says Graves, "but we felt it was important to establish the Commission's competence for them, so we went forward with the ban on finning."

VIMS' shark expert Dr. Jack Musick hails the ICCAT resolution. "Sharks are particularly susceptible to overfishing because of their slow growth and low reproductive rates," says Musick. "An international ban on finning will certainly help in efforts to restore shark populations to a sustainable level."

Many shark stocks, particularly in the Atlantic, are overfished. Rebuilding these stocks and maintaining healthy shark populations is required under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

Other notable actions at the New Orleans meeting, the first ICCAT annual meeting held in the U.S., include the extension until 2006 of management measures for bluefin tuna, swordfish, blue marlin, and white marlin that were set to expire this year. The Commission also adopted a four-year agreement for bigeye tuna. These management measures include sharing arrangements and stock allocations designed to provide equitable access to tuna populations for all tuna-fishing nations.

ICCAT is an international treaty organization made up of 39 members from 63 countries. Member nations manage the tuna and tuna-like (swordfish, marlin, sailfish) fisheries in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Gulf of Mexico, using scientific evidence to develop recommendations and resolutions aimed at maintaining populations at sustainable levels.