More than 35% of shark and ray species are currently threatened with extinction, largely due to overfishing, according to these two organizations
Nine countries and two non -governmental organizations launched at the UN Ocean conference in Nice a “coalition for sharks and rays” to lead to the protection of ecologically sensitive areas for these species.
“Sharks and rays play an essential role in marine ecosystems, but they are facing critical levels of decline. The launch of the global coalition will be vital to reverse this trend, avoiding overfishing and allowing better protection of important habitats,” said Pepe Clarke of WWF International.
The idea of WWF and Traffic to which France, which leads the initiative, Australia, Ecuador, Maldives, Malta, Panama, Republic of Congo, Spain and the United Kingdom was “creating an international ‘Task Force’ to follow and put the protection and conservation of these habitats and species, said Catarina Grilo, WWF Portugal.
More than 35% of shark and rays species are currently threatened with extinction, largely due to overfishing, according to these two organizations.
Shark populations and deepwater rays, as well as slightly deep water species, “decreased dramatically and these losses impair oceans health, threaten food safety and affect the subsistence means of millions of people living in coastal communities,” they report in a joint statement.
“High level actions are needed to protect habitats and critical species, regulate fishing and commerce and ensure regional and international cooperation,” they add.
“There is a lot of fishing, for example, in Portugal a lot increased the consumption of ray, there is no directed fishing, but an accessory capture when fishing other species, which is a problem,” said Catarina Grilo.
The environmentalist took the opportunity to mention that “most people do not know that when he eats a dye or cation is eating shark” and warned that there are also shark products in food supplements.
