SAN JOSE (COSTA RICA)- Conservation groups Turtle Island Restoration Network and PRETOMA have found evidence that Costa Rica is exporting hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) to plates in Hong Kong by way of stop-overs on U.S. soil. Eastern Pacific Scalloped hammerhead sharks are listed as “endangered” under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). The exportContinue Reading
PORTLAND (USA)- US federal regulators are reviewing the status of the porbeagle shark to determine if listing the species under the Endangered Species Act is warranted. The regulators say the porbeagle sharks are threatened by the shark fin trade and bycatch from other fisheries. They are popular as meat and with gameContinue Reading
WOODS HOLE (USA)- Great whites, like all other sharks, are slow-growing, long-lived animals with low reproduction rates. They are fished commercially throughout the world. A new study confirms how important it is to be more careful about this. White sharks in the western North Atlantic grow more slowly and matureContinue Reading
WASHINGTON (USA)—The Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) passed legislation in early February to create a shark sanctuary in the country’s full exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which covers nearly 3 million square kilometers (1.1 million square miles) in the western Pacific Ocean. President Manny Mori signed the legislation,Continue Reading
ANTANANARIVO (MADAGASCAR)- Great news for the sharks in waters of the isle of Madagascar. The Government of this eastern African country presented its first marine sanctuary for sharks. It is part of a new law to safeguard the country’s marine resources and the communities that rely on them, according toContinue Reading
CANBERRA (AUSTRALIA)- The Australian government is, according to The Guardian, submitting a “reservation” against three species of thresher shark and two species of hammerhead shark listed as protected migratory species under the UN-administered convention on the conservation of migratory species of wild animals. The five types of shark were amongContinue Reading
2014 is over! But it turned out to be an exceptional year with more shark species receiving international protection and more water reserves to protect sharks and other marine species. Unfortunately of the west coast of Australia sharks are still under menace of the so-called shark cull. To look backContinue Reading