Wildlife protectors warn many shark species face extinction

Jan 28, 2011, 10:15 GMT

   Washington/New York - Many shark species continue to risk extinction despite measures taken to prevent it, according to conservation groups.

A decade after the start of international efforts to save sharks, 30 species remain in severe danger of extinction, according to comprehensive research released Thursday in Washington. The report was made by a joint programme of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the World Conservation Union (IUCN), known as Traffic, and by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

According to the report, around 73 million sharks are killed every year so that their fins can be used to make soup. The 20 countries with the largest catches, led by Indonesia, India, Spain and Taiwan, get around 640,000 tonnes of shark per year out of the sea.

In November, an international conference imposed a ban on trade in whitetip shark from the Atlantic and on the hammerhead shark. Only in emerging countries can these species be caught in coastal waters, and even then it must be only for local consumption.

A plan to save sharks from extinction was drafted in 2001 by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). However, only 13 of 20 countries have produced national plans to that effect, the study says. It also remains uncertain just how effective its application is even when it is implemented.