Sharks hunted to extinction in the Mediterranean
By Peter Popham in Rome
Published: 09 March 2007
The great white shark is being hunted to extinction in the Mediterranean, while angel sharks have disappeared altogether from the North Sea according to a report from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) meeting in Rome.
Although listed as an endangered species since 1983, the great white is legally protected only in Malta. The UK government promised to protect angel sharks in 2001 but, six years on, nothing has been done and they are now classified extinct.
World fisheries experts are seeking urgent protection measures and their study shows the crisis facing fish stocks of every sort all over the world.
The situation of the sharks is particularly grim. The reason is closely related to their well-known peculiarities - the fact they constantly roam the seas, have few offspring, and that their fins are a prized ingredient in a Chinese soup.
Sharks can live up to the age of 30, and many species only begin reproducing when they are aged six or more. The young remain inside the mother until they have hatched from the eggs. It means that when young females are caught in trawlers' driftnets - often as "bycatch" when the intended catch is sardines or anchovies - their whole lineages are wiped out. .....(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/wildlife/article2341373.ece
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