Shark Fins in Europe – Implications for reforming the EU finning ban

This study on EU shark fin catching, processing and trade practices, and their global significance, was undertaken to contribute to the debate on strengthening the EU Finning Regulation.

It is widely acknowledged that effective fisheries management is urgently needed if shark populations are to recover and sustainable levels of exploitation are to be achieved. however, implementation of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO) International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks (IPOA–Sharks), adopted by the FAO in 1999, has been disappointing. Relatively few fishing states and Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) have produced shark assessment reports or developed shark management plans, and shark fisheries are continuing largely unchecked in most of the world’s oceans.

Due to lack of political will and/or technical capacity, few shark fishing states are collecting the data needed to inform and implement management measures for sharks, because the life history characteristics of sharks make them particularly vulnerable to overfishing, failure to limit shark fishing promptly and at sustainable levels can result in depletion from which decades are needed for recovery.