Turning the Tide: Why the Stop Illegal Fishing Act is Crucial for Sharks and Human Rights

Every year, an invisible war is waged across the global ocean. Out of sight and far from shore, rogue fishing vessels plunder marine ecosystems, pushing vulnerable species to the brink of extinction. This is Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, a global criminal enterprise worth an estimated $23 billion annually. H.R. 6338: The Stop Illegal Fishing Act is a bold, necessary step toward real accountability on the high seas. Introduced in the 119th Congress, this bill targets the financial lifelines of ocean poachers.

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Hope for the Soupfin Shark: CITES Protection and the Fight Ahead

For far too long, the soupfin shark has faced a relentless onslaught of threats, pushing its global populations to the brink. At the latest Conference of the Parties to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), soupfin sharks achieved international protection from trade.

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More Sharks Killed Despite Finning Laws

A new study reports that 76 to 80 million sharks  were killed between 2012 and 2019, with about 25 million of them threatened species. The study published by Worm et al in the journal Science shows that overfishing continues to present a dire threat to shark populations over much of the world, despite the widespread adoption of anti-shark finning legislation and related regulations over the same period.

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UK Joins Canada and USA to Ban the Fin Trade

On June 29, 2023, The Shark Fins Act passed into law in the United Kingdom, protecting sharks in UK waters and a major step for conservation of sharks around the world. Following Canada and the USA, the Shark Fins Act will ban the import and export of detached shark fins, including all products containing shark fins such as canned shark fin soup. Shark Stewards applauds the example set by the United Kingdom ,and joins the StopFinning Eu coalition and calls on the EU to follow the lead to reduce impacts on Atlantic and global shark populations by facilitating the shark fin trade.

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Ban Wire Leaders to Save Endangered Pacific Sharks

The 16th meeting of the WCPFC is taking place on 5-11 December in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, and we are urging member states in attendance to fight for sharks and rays that are harvested in the Pacific.

Banning wire leaders and shark lines would reduce fishing mortality of oceanic whitetips by 40.5%, and that of silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis), another threatened species, by 30.8%, according to research cited in the WCPFC proposal.

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