This bill is threatened by sudden opposition by one or two vocal charter boat fishermen pressuring Senators to vote against the Bill. 

Find and contact your Senator here in Support of Sharks and HB 852  Find Your Senator and email Here.

This is a call to action where everyone counts.  HB 852 has made it to the Texas Senate floor for a vote!  This is a huge victory for those working on behalf of sharks around the world.  HB 852 will prohibit the sale, purchase or transport of shark fins and shark fin products within the state of Texas.  This will help strengthen national and international laws that will all work together to stop the wasteful and unsustainable practice of shark finning.  We are all members of one world connected by one ocean and it is our responsibility to protect its resources.
If you care about this issue and are interested in having your voice heard we encourage you to take a few minutes and contact your state Senator.  On the back of this flyer is a complete list of all 31 Senate districts, counties represented and Senators with their office phone numbers.  If you’re so inclined, you can contact any and all Senators to voice your support for HB 852.  The most important Senator for you to contact is the one who represents you, so at the very minimum, please make that one very important phone call.
If you would like to provide additional support, you can go to the Texas Senate website: www.senate.state.tx.us and contact any or all of the senators through their contact links.
You can also visit www.sharkstewards.org for other ways to help.
It is very important that they hear your voice before Monday, 20 May when they will vote on the issue.

Facts:

• There is no Commercial Shark Fishery in Texas and no fin industry
• No jobs will be lost under the fin ban
• Under the fin ban Texas recreational fishermen will still be able to catch sharks under existing law
• There is no treatement facility for shark fins in Texas, all commercially available fins consumed in Texas are imported
• Imported shark fins, the target of this ban, include fins form threatened species and illegally harvested or finned sharks
• This Bill will help protect sharks in the world's oceans and in the Gulf. 

Texas Residents- Please contact your representative below and urge them to vote yes on HB 852.  A small group of charter fishermen who do not want to see this law passed are applying pressure on Housemembers. We need your Voise For Sharks!  

Dear Representative,

The entire West Coast — California, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii — and Illinois, along with the three U.S. Pacific territories, Guam American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands, have already enacted bans on the shark fin trade. Texas should not be a haven for the cruel, wasteful and unsustainable trade in shark fins. Please vote Yes! on the bipartisan H.B.852 to protect sharks and oceans when it comes up for a vote on the House floor this Friday.

Texas

Animal welfare and conservation groups urge Gov. O’Malley to sign bill into law

Humane Society International, National Aquarium, National Wildlife Federation, Oceana

The Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society International, National Aquarium, National Wildlife Federation and Oceana applaud the Maryland General Assembly for banning the possession, sale, trade and distribution of shark fins. If signed by Gov. Martin O’Malley, Maryland will become the sixth state – and the first on the Atlantic Ocean – to crack down on the brutal killing of sharks just for shark fin soup and help turn around the collapse of shark populations worldwide.

The Maryland House of Delegates passed HB 1148, introduced by Del. Eric Luedtke, D-Montgomery County, by a vote of 119-15 in March and the Senate passed similar legislation – SB 592 introduced by Sen. Brian Frosh, D-Montgomery County – by a margin of 41-6 on April 4. Both bills passed with bi-partisan support, with final votes in the opposite chambers occurring before the General Assembly adjourned at midnight on Monday. The legislation now moves to Gov. O’Malley for his signature.

Sen. Frosh said: “I am extremely pleased that the legislature enacted this protection for sharks.  Tens of millions of sharks are killed each year for their fins, and many species are threatened with extinction. Sharks are critical apex predators and are essential to the health of the ecosystem. Here in Maryland, declining shark populations can be linked to an increase in cownose rays, which in turn undermines oyster restoration. This new law will be a positive step in our efforts both to fix a global problem and to restore the Chesapeake Bay.”

Del. Luedtke said: “I am ecstatic that Maryland will become the first state on the East Coast to ban shark fins, pending Governor O’Malley’s signature. My hope is that the remainder of the eastern seaboard states will also take action to end the unsustainable and inhumane practice of shark finning worldwide."

If adopted, Maryland will join California, Hawaii, Illinois, Oregon and Washington – as well as all three U.S. Pacific territories of Guam, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands – in passing laws to provide critical protection to sharks and for the health of the world's ocean ecosystems.

Tami Santelli, Maryland senior state director for The HSUS said: “Fins sold in Maryland can come from sharks that were caught anywhere in the world, and there is simply no way to guarantee that these fins were not obtained through the inhumane and wasteful practice of finning. We are so pleased that the General Assembly has taken a strong stance to protect sharks and to ensure that Maryland will no longer provide a market incentive for finning and the overfishing of sharks.”

John Racanelli, CEO for National Aquarium said: "Sharks may not be warm and fuzzy, but they serve a critical role in ocean ecosystems, and they need our help. National Aquarium is proud that, by passing this measure, Maryland's General Assembly has taken the lead on this internationally critical conservation issue. After all, sharks need friends too.”

As a result of fishing pressures, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature has estimated that nearly one-third of all open-ocean shark species are threatened with extinction. The massive global overfishing of sharks is largely driven by the market for their fins. Consumer demand for shark fins contribute to the decimation of shark populations worldwide.

Facts

• A recent study indicates that nearly 100 million sharks – or 7 percent of their total populations – are being killed each year, with tens of millions caught specifically for their fins.
• Many shark fins are obtained by cutting off the fins and dumping the body of the shark – often still alive – back into the ocean, where the shark dies of blood loss, suffocation or predation by other animals.
• Animals at the top of the food chain, such as sharks, have few natural predators, so they are slow to mature and have very few young. As a result, sharks are extremely sensitive to fishing pressures and recover slowly from overfishing. As sharks play a vital role in the oceans, their depletion could cause irreparable damage to marine ecosystems.

PLEASE HELP!  We have been working for over 9 months to introduce and pass legislation to protect sharks in Texas. The Texas shark finning bill HB852  has passed through the House committee, but it is now stuck in the Calendars committee and cannot move to the House floor for a full vote due to pushback from a very small group of individuals with self interest.  Many have gone to great efforts to get us this far, and we are so grateful. Thanks to your overwhelming support, this bill has progressed much further than most proposed legislation ever does.
I am asking you to take action immediately.  This will only take 2 minutes to make the difference. You can open this link to send a personalized letter to the committee members with one click! Show your support HERE.

Please join us today in calling the offices of the House Calendars Committee members on behalf of the sharks. I have already provided the phone numbers next to their names.

Suggested language for when you call their office, “My name is X and I am calling to ask the Representative to please set the HB 852 to stop the sale of shark fins in Texas for a vote. It is in the Calendars committee now and this bill has such widespread support from across the state. It deserves a full vote on the floor. Please set this bill today.”

If you can carve out 30 minutes today to make these calls, you could help save the bill. We need everyone below to get calls, except for Representative Lucio. He is our bill sponsor so he is already on board!

Chair:    
Rep. Todd Hunter         (512) 463-0672

Vice Chair:    
Rep. Eddie Lucio III

Members:    
Rep. Roberto R. Alonzo     (512) 463-0408
Rep. Carol Alvarado     (512) 463-0732
Rep. Dan Branch         (512) 463-0367
Rep. Angie Chen Button     (512) 463-0486
Rep. Byron Cook         (512) 463-0730
Rep. Myra Crownover     (512) 463-0582
Rep. Sarah Davis         (512) 463-0389
Rep. Craig Eiland         (512) 463-0502
Rep. John Frullo         (512) 463-0676
Rep. Charlie Geren         (512) 463-0610
Rep. Helen Giddings      (512) 463-0953    
Rep. John Kuempel         (512) 463-0602
Rep. Doug Miller        (512) 463-0325
 

Sharks are disappearing from our oceans at the rate of 100 million per year, according to a new study published in the scientific journal Marine Policy. After withstanding the last five extinctions, a creature responsible for only six to 12 human deaths each year is now the prey of humans, and is now in danger of disappearing in what biologist EO Wilson calls the Sixth Great Extinction. 

Humanity's bite out of the shark population holds dire consequences. Oceans produce 70 percent of our oxygen and are thus essential to life on earth. As the ocean's apex predators, sharks occupy the top of the food chain and are essential to maintaining the ecological balance of the sea. As shark populations deteriorate, so too will oceanic health – and the value chain that represents the ocean or "blue" economy. This simple syllogism is rapidly becoming a reality. 

The culprit is overfishing, which is primarily driven by the shark fin trade. Shark finning is a practice that provides the key ingredient for shark fin soup, a status symbol in China and in other countries with Chinese populations, which now sells for as much as US $100 a bowl. After more than 400 million years on planet Earth, sharks are being destroyed to support the lucrative trade in shark fins necessary for creating the delicacy. 

Shark finning

An inhumane and unsustainable practice, shark finning occurs when fishermen catch sharks, cut off the fins (which sell for as much as $800 per pound), and carelessly toss the animals back into the sea, many of them still alive. Since their carcasses are only worth pennies a pound, many fishermen focus only on the fins. For sharks as well as for the people who depend on the blue economy, the cruel practice exacts a terrible toll to maintain a market that yields profits for so few. 

Already, numbers of some species such as oceanic white tip sharks have plummeted to one percent of their original population in the Atlantic. While we still do not know the full scope of the impact on some species, we do know that one third of open-ocean sharks are endangered. If something cannot be done to reverse the decline, scientists warn that the collapse of the sea may be imminent. 

Fortunately, recent developments offer hope. Research into the economic value of sharks shows that they are worth much more swimming in the sea than in soup dishes. The estimated value of a shark can be as much as $2m for some island communities. In Fiji, shark diving tourism is worth $42m per year, and in French Polynesia, lemon shark diving brings in $15.4m. 

Follow our in-depth coverage of Bangkok CITES conference

In Palau, where diving tourism yields 39 percent of the country's GDP, killing a shark can result in upwards of $250,000 in fines and an additional $250,000 for each section removed, such as the fins. That is why coastal communities such as the Bahamas, Honduras, Palau, Maldives and Ecuador are establishing shark sanctuaries to prohibit the killing of sharks and support the eco-tourism so essential to their island economies. 

In terms of international policy, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) just voted to protect three species of hammerhead sharks. Among the most coveted for shark fin soup, these gentle sharks are becoming rapidly overfished, even in protected areas like the Galapagos Islands. 

While these developments indicate promise, shark populations remain in danger as long as the market for shark fins thrives. In her book Demon Fish, Washington Post reporter Juliet Eilperin interviews shark fin dealers for their take on the matter. One dealer named Lin Ying Jui calls shark fin a "luxury" product, which her shop in Sai Ying Poon makes available for customers who are rich enough to buy. It is simple economics, really. Give the customer what they want or risk losing their business to another. If sharks disappear from the sea in pursuit of retail profits, so be it. As Eilperin reports, "'There's nothing we can do about it,' says Lin. 'We have to accept it.'" 

Thankfully, such defeatism is not preventing a global surge in action on behalf of sharks from divers, activists, policymakers, scientists and writers who collectively constitute the international shark advocacy community. The group is itself a renewable resource, lending support to protect sharks on local, regional, national and international fronts.  

Law to save sharks 

Heightened awareness is leading to greater protection for sharks. To reduce supply, the US has a law against live finning in our waters and approximately 40 other countries have similar laws against the practice. To address fatalism like that of Lin, the Hong Kong shark fin trader, US states have begun to pass shark fin trade bans to help reduce the demand for the luxury dish. 

For my part, after reading a report on one particularly gruesome incident involving 2,000 dead, finless sharks off the coast of Colombia, I contacted shark conservationist and marine biologist David McGuire to see if there was anything that Texas could do. McGuire's organisation had successfully spearheaded the California and Illinois bans, and has campaigns in the works in several other states.  

Since partnering with McGuire's organisation Shark Stewards, a San Francisco-based non-profit, I have been introduced to an international community of shark advocates that extends all the way to China. In my home state of Texas, Shark Stewards has partnered with the Humane Society of the United States to move a bi-partisan bill successfully through the Senate and House committee hearings. If Texas succeeds, our state will become the sixth state to pass the bill, and the first "red state" in America to lead on the issue. 

"There are no easy solutions," says McGuire, "but there are a few things we can do here at home. Local fishermen can support releasing sharks after catching them." And, he says, "Avoiding unsustainable seafood and supporting shark fin trade reductions helps reduce killing sharks in international waters. Concerned ocean citizens can also support Shark Stewards' international appeal to the UN to ban the practice of shark finning worldwide as we have here in the USA." 

The blue economy is in precarious condition, and we need more people to join the effort to save it. The effects of the ocean going out of balance is costing lives and livelihoods as coral reefs collapse and other systems are impaired. The ocean coastal zone is a natural resource that provides two-thirds of the world's GDP. As the regulators of the sea, sharks are essential to maintaining the balance required for the rest of the food chain to thrive – humanity included.

Anna M Clark is president of EarthPeople and the author of Green, American Style: Becoming Earth-Friendly and Reaping the Benefits. She has written for The Guardian and The Huffington Post and writes the Eco-Leadership column for Greenbiz.com. She is a Public Voices fellow at The Op-Ed Project and writes on culture, leadership and sustainability.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/03/2013324101249317945.html 

Media Contact David McGuire 415 350-3790

White sharks off California’s coast will receive additional protection beginning March 1, the date it becomes a candidate species under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).
In February 2013, the California Fish and Game Commission (FGC) determined that listing white shark as threatened or endangered may be warranted and designated the species as a candidate pursuant CESA. As a candidate species, white sharks will be entitled to the full legal protection afforded to a listed species once notice of the Commission’s action is published in the California Regulatory Notice Register, which is scheduled to occur on March 1, 2013.
Based on concerns over studies indicating low numbers and high bycatch, the petition was introduced by Shark Stewards, Oceana and the Center For Biological Diversity. “These sharks deserve our protection and further study.” Said David McGuire, Director of Shark Stewards. “We commend the Department of fish and Wildlife staff and the Commissioners of Fish and Game for approving this petition and evaluating the fisheries impacting these important apex predators.”
CESA prohibits the take of listed or candidate species, even if that take is incidental to otherwise lawful activity, unless authorized by permit. As defined in state law, take means “hunt, pursue, catch, capture, or kill or attempt to hunt, pursue, catch, capture, or kill.” Anyone who takes a white shark without a permit may be cited for violations of CESA and subject to criminal prosecution.

“While targeted sport and commercial fishing for white shark has been banned in waters off California since the mid-1990s, there were some exceptions that allowed for incidental take and take associated with research activities,” said Marci Yaremko, program manager for state and federal marine fisheries at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). “The Department now will consider exceptions only on a case-by-case basis, and will authorize take only under permits issued pursuant to CESA.”

Under CESA, research permits may be issued for bona fide scientific research relating to white sharks. An incidental take permit may also be obtained by commercial fishing operations or others whose non-research activities may result in take. Information regarding CESA permitting is available on the Department’s website (http://www.dfg.ca.gov/habcon/cesa/).

The Commission received a petition to list the Northeast Pacific population of white shark as either threatened or endangered in August 2012. Now that the species is a candidate, CDFW will conduct an in-depth status review to provide the Commission with information to aid in its decision on whether or not to list the species. The status review is slated for completion by early next year.

More information on white shark and CESA candidacy is available on the Department’s white shark information page (www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/whiteshark.asp).

###
Shark Stewards is a project of the shark conservation non profit Sea Stewards. Dedicated to sharks and Healthy Oceans, Sea Stewards works in fisheries management, marine pollution prevention and shark conservation. www.seastewards.org

Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna lewini)
Last Friday January 25, the Council of Ministers of the Central American Commission of Environment and Development (CCAD), which belongs to the Environment Department of the Central American Integration System (SICA), agreed to support the initiative to include hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini) en Appendix II of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The proposal was formally presented by Costa Rica, Honduras, and Brazil, and it will be discussed and voted during the next Conference of the Parties (COP) of the Convention, to be held next March in Bangkok, Thailand. Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and the European Union have also supported the proposal.
 
According to the Council of Ministers of CCAD "populations of this marine species have dwindled due to overfishing, incidental catch, and shark finning, and also because the fins are highly prized for consumption in Asian markets, because of which it is necessary to take decisions and start the battle in favor of the conservation of all shark species."
 
According to Randall Arauz, of the Costa Rican organization Pretoma, "it is disturbing that some Central American countries have yet to define their position regarding hammerhead sharks at CITES. The recommendation of the CCAD builds upon the opinion of the Panel of Experts of FAO (2010) and the plenary of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) during the most recent World Conservation Congress in Jeju, Korea, last September," informed Arauz. "Sadly, some Central American countries have done nothing but come up with one excuse after another to deny hammerheads the immediate protection they need and deserve, from international trade, thus solely benefitting the shark fin industry."
 
 
For more information: www.pretoma.org
 
Pretoma is a Costa Rican Civil Association of Public Interest and is an active member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature IUCN and the World Society for the Protection of Animals WSPA.

President James Kellogg and
Members of the California Fish and Game Commission
1416 Ninth Street, Room 1320
Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: Support for advancing Northeastern Pacific population of White Sharks as a Candidate Species under the California Endangered Species Act

Dear President Kellogg and Commissioners:

On behalf of the undersigned organizations and our members, we are concerned about the future of the Northeastern Pacific population of white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) and support efforts to have this population listed as a candidate species under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). We urge the Commission to follow the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s recommendation to accept the petition and conduct a full review of the status of California’s white sharks.

We believe that the Commission should advance the white shark listing petition because current data and information indicate a small population with fewer than 100 breeding females in a species that is slow to mature and reproduce, while state-authorized fisheries continue to pose further threats to the population. If the Commission determines that the petition presented sufficient scientific information to indicate that the petitioned action may be warranted, this would comport with the finding already made by the National Marine Fisheries Service that listing may be warranted under the federal Endangered Species Act. Accordingly, Northeastern Pacific white sharks would benefit from a full status review under both federal and California endangered species laws.

The Northeastern Pacific population of white sharks is extremely small. The best available science indicates that there are only a few hundred adult and sub-adult individual white sharks at their known autumn aggregation sites off the central coast of California and Guadalupe Island, Mexico. The small population number combined with their relatively long-lived life history, slow maturation, and low reproductive rate presents a serious risk of extinction. If we lose this population of genetically distinct white sharks it is likely we lose white sharks off the Pacific coastline forever, having dramatic impact on the balance and health of the rich California Current ecosystem.

The primary documented threat to the Northeastern Pacific population of white sharks is commercial gillnet fishing. White shark pups are entangled as bycatch by set and drift gillnet fisheries in nursery habitats off the coasts of Southern California and Mexico. While these fisheries target California halibut, white seabass, yellowtail, Pacific swordfish, common thresher sharks, and benthic fish, logbook and observer data indicate that their nets regularly entangle juvenile white sharks as bycatch—with voluntarily reported bycatch ranging from 2-25 white sharks annually off Southern California alone. However, bycatch is likely much higher because of low observer coverage and underreporting. The available data does indicate that white shark bycatch rates appear to be higher at certain times and places, offering the potential for effective management to minimize the bycatch in a cost effective manner. Accurate bycatch accounting through 100% observer coverage is necessary for determining the full extent of this bycatch, and CESA listing would be helpful in increasing the priority for placing observers on these gillnet fisheries. While directed fishing for white sharks is prohibited, there are no limits on or management of white shark bycatch in U.S. or Mexican Pacific Coast fisheries. CESA listing would allow the Commission and Department to begin deliberately managing this bycatch for California fisheries, while helping prompt other entities to take similar action.

In addition, new studies show that juvenile Northeastern Pacific white sharks are among the most heavily contaminated with mercury, PCBs, and DDT of any shark species tested to date globally. Young white sharks of the Southern California Bight have mercury concentrations that are six times higher than established thresholds known to cause physiological and reproductive harm in other marine fish. As top ocean predators, white sharks play an exceedingly vital role in a balanced and healthy ocean ecosystem, and are among the only natural predators of seals and sea lions in the California Current. The listing process will allow additional public and scientific dialogue ultimately benefiting our ability to manage and protect this population and the ecological benefits it provides.

Given the importance of this iconic apex predator off our coast and the threats posed by a low population, reproductive isolation, and direct mortality caused by human activities, we support listing the Northeastern Pacific population of white sharks as a candidate species under the California Endangered Species Act, and urge the Commission to advance this petition to a full status review to determine if a threatened or endangered listing is warranted.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Geoff Shester, Ph.D. Oceana
99 Pacific Street, Suite 155-C
Monterey, CA 93940

Miyoko Sakashita
Center For Biological Diversity
351 California St., Ste. 600
San Francisco, CA 94104

Taylor Jones
WildEarth Guardians
1536 Wynkoop St., Suite 301
Denver, CO 80202

David McGuire
Director, Shark Stewards
P. O. Box 617
Sausalito, CA 94966

Expansion Now Official Reef Swains 2010 More than 150 species of coral are found in the newly expanded National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa

A final rule that expands the boundaries of NOAA's Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary and changes the name of the sanctuary is now in effect. Originally published in July, the final rule directs NOAA to provide enhanced protections and management for most of Rose Atoll Marine National Monument under the authority of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. Additionally, NOAA will extend sanctuary protection to four additional marine areas in American Samoa: Fagalua/Fogama'a (also known as Larsen Bay) and waters around Swains Island, Aunu`u Island and Ta'u Island, home to some of the oldest and largest known corals in the world. Together with the existing Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary, these protected areas will now be known collectively as the "National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa." The sanctuary will encompass 13,523 square miles of protected waters – a significant increase from the 0.25 square miles of Fagatele Bay – taking it from the nation's smallest marine sanctuary to the largest. This sanctuary expansion represents a major milestone for NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries in its 40th anniversary year. The inclusion of Rose Atoll Marine National Monument and the other new areas is a powerful demonstration of our nation's commitment to the Pacific and to the cultural heritage of American Samoa. Through this expansion, NOAA will be able to provide greater protection to ecosystems and cultural resources in the region, ensuring that the waters of American Samoa remain a vital part of the nation's legacy for future generations.

Background
1. Shark fin is traditionally used in shark fin soup, and served at formal occasions in Chinese culture to symbolise both the wealth of the host and respect for their guests.
2. The international trade in shark fin is widely agreed to be driving the collapse of global shark populations. A third of all open-ocean sharks are listed as threatened with extinction on the World Conservation Union’s (IUCN) Red List. Scientists estimate that around 73 million sharks are killed annually to supply the shark fin trade1. The increase in an affluent Chinese middle class is driving an annual 5% increase in the trade in shark fin2.
3. A single shark fin can sell for over $1,000 in Sydney or Melbourne’s Chinatown. Prices can reach up to $700 per kg of dried, skinless fin, whereas shark meat is generally much lower value – selling for as little as $0.80 per kg.
4. Live shark finning (the practice of cutting the fins off a live shark and dumping the body) is banned in all fishing jurisdictions in Australia (Commonwealth, States and the Northern Territory), thanks in part to AMCS campaigns. NT was the last place in Australia that allowed live shark fining at sea, which ceased in 2004 with the introduction of new legislation.
5. Australia has about seven targeted shark fisheries, and sharks are caught incidentally in around 70 fisheries as bycatch (ie where sharks are not the target species, but caught in process of fishing for other species). Endangered sharks are regularly caught. For example, scalloped hammerhead sharks (Endangered on the IUCN Red List) are caught within the QLD-managed East Coast Inshore Fin Fish Fishery, and as many as 600 shortfin mako(Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List) sharks are killed in the Commonwealth-managed Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery every three months3.

1Clarke SC, McAllister MK, Milner-Gulland EJ, Kirkwood, GP, Michielsens CGJ, Agnew DJ, Pikitch EK, Nakano H and Shivji MS (2006). Global estimates of shark catches using trade records from commercial markets. Ecology Letters, 9: 1115–1126
2 Clarke, S. 2004. Understanding pressures on fishery resources through trade statistics: a pilot study of four products in the Chinese dried seafood market. Fish and Fisheries, 5(1): 53-74.
3 Report for 1st October – 31st December 2011: http://www.afma.gov.au/managing-our-fisheries/environment-and-sustainability/Protected-Species/

Exports

1. The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) recently obtained a breakdown of shark product exported from Australia in the financial year of July 2011-June 2012.
2. The data indicates that Australia exported 178 tonnes of shark fin in the 2011-12 financial year to Hong Kong, the Philippines and Singapore. There is no information denoting which shark species the fins come from. 178 tonnes of dried shark fin is the amount of fin derived from approximately 13,300 tonnes of shark carcass4. Australia reports that Australian fisheries currently land an average of 8,390 tonnes of shark and ray per calendar year to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. This leaves the source of around 5,000 tonnes of shark catch unaccounted for.
3. The data was obtained under a Freedom Of Information request by AMCS asking for all exported product that was recorded under trade codes specific to shark products – this includes shark fin, shark liver oil, trunk pieces, shark liver oil, squalene and dried shark cartilage powder. AMCS sought this data in order to assess and publically scrutinize the extent of Australia’s current export trade in shark products.
4. This data is not publicly available. The reason provided by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) is that there is no confidence that the shark product export data recorded in their Export Documentation System (EXDOC) stands up to public scrutiny. AMCS was informed that some export data is not entered into an electronic database, but is instead recorded in hard copy. No single data source that accounts for both electronic and hard copy export data exists; the reported shark fin export statistics obtained by AMCS are derived from the electronic system only. Although efforts have been made by conservation organisations over preceding years to secure improvements to the data collection system, DAFF is yet to make significant advances.
5. It is also not possible to access a meaningful time series of export trade data prior to June 2012, which means there is no way of assessing whether Australia’s export trade is increasing or decreasing. This is because the trade data is archived at low resolution. Every day, trade data from individual trade codes is rolled into the sum total of all shark product exported.
6. As the export data is low resolution, it is difficult to monitor compliance with Australian shark finning legislation. It is also difficult to assess if the amount of exported shark product tallies with the amount of shark product that
4 This figure comes from shark fin to whole carcass weights reported in published scientific work. The dry weight ratio used is 0.73% for dry fin weight to whole carcass, and for wet fin the figure is 1.62%. The ratios were derived from the following reference:
Salini, J, McAuley, R, Blaber, SJM, Buckworth, R, Chidlow, J, Gribble, N, Ovenden, J, Peverell, S, Pillans, R, Stevens, JD, Stobutzki, IC, Tarca, C and Walker, T (2007) Northern Australian sharks and rays : the sustainability of target and bycatch species, phase 2. FRDC Project no. 2002/064. FRDC Project ; no. 2002/064. CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research. 1921061243.
Australia annually reports to the UN FAO. Trade data is considered one of the key assessment methods for ensuring illegal take of sharks does not occur, but with such poor data collection, the current system in Australia is clearly failing.
7. There have been several recorded instances where live shark fining has occurred in recent years. In August 2012 an adult female grey nurse shark was found still alive but with its fins sliced off on a beach near Evan’s Head, NSW. A decaying finless shark has also been found within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. See:
http://www.seabreeze.com.au/News/Cruising/Analysis-confirms-danger-for-sharks_5318435.aspx
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/shark-washes-up-with-fins-slashed-off-20120808-23trn.html
Imports
1. Prior to the beginning of 2012, there was no specific ‘shark fin’ trade code for imported produce. There were two trade codes, which were listed as:
• Dogfish & other sharks (excl. fish fillets, other fish meat of HS 0304, livers & roes) fresh or chilled
• Dogfish & other sharks (excl. fish fillets, other fish meat of HS 0304, livers & roes) frozen
All imported produce was recorded under these two codes. This is clearly inadequate for capturing data on the importation of dried shark fin. At the beginning of 2012, new trade codes for imported shark fin were introduced and AMCS intends to access the data in early 2013 to provide the first reports of imported shark fin to Australia.
2. Since 2000, Australia reported imports of shark product from a number of countries including: Fiji, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Argentina, Peru, the Philippines, Taiwan, Uruguay, United States of America and New Zealand. It is highly likely Australia is importing shark products, including shark fin, from countries with poorer shark fisheries management practises than our own. For example, some countries exporting shark fin to Australia, e.g. India and Indonesia, still allow the cruel and wasteful practice of live shark finning at sea.