EU wants more sharks in the sea, less in soup pots (AP/Newsmeat)

[eppur_se_muova]

HOLLY FOX
AP News

Feb 05, 2009 11:01 EST

The EU wants more sharks in the sea and fewer in the soup pot.

The European Commission proposed its first-ever shark conservation rules Thursday, trying to reverse the decline in sharks in European waters.

"Many people associate sharks with the cinema, more than with restaurants," said EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg. "But the latest information we have confirms that human beings are now a far bigger threat to sharks than sharks ever were to us."

Borg said sharks, because of their long life spans and low fertility rates, are very vulnerable to overfishing. A recent study by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature suggests as many as one-third of the 80 types of sharks caught in EU waters are now threatened by overfishing.

Borg proposed plugging loopholes in a 2003 ban on shark finning — the practice of hacking off shark fins and throwing the body back — and steps to reduce accidentally catching sharks while hunting other fish and to increase monitoring of shark catches.
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more: http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?articleId=41946034&channelId=2951&buyerId=newsmeatcom&buid=3281

[rpannier]

1. Recommend because laws like these can't happen soon enough

[Lost in CT]

2. Couldn't agree more.

Hopefully the EU will also take on it's own members overfishing.