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Atlantic sharks at risk as fishing bites: study
Geneva (AFP) Nov 10, 2008 More than a quarter of sharks in the northeast Atlantic Ocean face extinction with some species already wiped out in certain areas due to over-fishing, a conservation group said on Monday. Twenty-six percent of sharks, rays and chimaeras are threatened with extinction and another 20 percent are in the 'near threatened' category, the Switzerland-based International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said in a statement. In the whole northeast Atlantic region, seven percent of species are classified as 'critically endangered,' another 7 as 'endangered,' and 12 percent as 'vulnerable,' the report said. "From angel sharks to devil rays, northeast Atlantic populations of these vulnerable species are in serious trouble, more so than in may other parts of the world," said Claudine Gibson, the report's lead-author and a former Programme Officer for the IUCN's Shark Specialist Group (SSG). "Most sharks and rays are exceptionally vulnerable to overfishing because of their tendency to grow slowly, mature late, and produce few young," she added. Her colleague Sonja Fordham, deputy chair of the SSG, told AFP that in some areas the angel shark was "already wiped out". "Country officials should heed the dire warnings of this report and act to protect threatened sharks and rays at national, regional and international levels," Fordham said. Many big shark species have fallen prey to booming Asian economies where shark-fin soup is prized as a must-have delicacy at weddings and other banquet occasions. The fins are often sliced off of living fish which are then discarded in the sea. Related Links Farming Today - Suppliers and Technology
Melamine-tainted milk products found in Vietnam
Hanoi (AFP) Oct 3, 2008Vietnam's food safety watchdog said Friday it had found the industrial chemical melamine in 18 milk and dairy products imported from China as well as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. |
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