Irish Examiner: ‘Irish shark experts have called on newly elected MEPs to outlaw the growing shark fin fishery in European waters, following a fine imposed on a Spanish fishing vessel detained off the Irish coast.

The Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) has confirmed that the fine of €2,500 and forfeiture of catch and gear worth €165,000 was imposed on the Spanish vessel Virxen da Blanca, following a guilty plea in Cork circuit court on May 23. The vessel had pleaded guilty to catches of blue shark with a small quantity of mako shark on board after it was detained by the Naval Service about 150 nautical miles south of Ireland last August.

A special sitting of Clonakilty district court last year also heard the vessel had 1,250kg of shark fins on board. The vessel was supposedly fishing for tuna. Shark fins can fetch a high price in Asia, where they are used in sharkfin soup. The fins are often removed while the shark is still alive and it can then no longer swim effectively and either suffocates or is eaten by other predators.

Sharks, rays, and skates are the most threatened type of fish in Europe, and several species of shark caught in Irish waters are on the “red list” of endangered species issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).  Kevin Flannery of the Irish Elasmobranch Group said a loophole in the licensing of the tuna longline fishery was allowing a by-catch of shark off this coast’. Click here to read more

Guardian: Marine ‘gold rush’: demand for shark fin soup drives decimation of fish

A rising demand for shark fin soup is wiping out more than 73 million sharks every year, fuelling a practice labelled the marine “gold rush”. Finning, when a shark’s fin is sliced off while at sea and the body dumped back into the ocean, is rampant in many regions – fins are one of the most expensive seafood items, ending up mostly in soup. The delicacy had been particularly popular in China but a nationwide conservation campaign saw consumption drop 80% since 2011.

However, demand is still huge in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, and growing in other parts of Asia, such as Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, according to conservation organisation WildAid.

In the UK, where shark finning is banned – as it is in all EU states – the soup is still on the menu in as many as a dozen restaurants, although many others have now stopped serving it, according to the charity Bite-Back Shark and Marine Conservation. The dish can cost up to £180 a bowl.

People ordering the soup in the UK are likely to be consuming endangered species, said Graham Buckingham, Bite-Back’s campaign director.

Click here to read more.