Marine Life & Conservation

A Big Week for Sharks

Published

7 months ago

November 23, 2022

Over the past week or so some critical discussions about shark conservation have been taking place in Portugal and Panama. ICCAT and CITES both had important proposals for sharks on the agenda and so far, it has been a week filled with hope.

ICCAT News: First International Mako Shark Quota Adopted

After success for Blues in 2019 and Mako Sharks in the north Atlantic last year, this year the focus switched to the South Atlantic. The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) agreed the world’s first population-wide fishing quota for highly vulnerable shortfin mako sharks. ICCAT set a South Atlantic catch limit (to cover landings as well as mortality from discarding) within the level recommended by scientists in 2019 and made allocations to individual fishing Parties that are calculated to cut their landings of the Endangered species by 40-60%.

“At long last, ICCAT has ended the free-for-all that was South Atlantic mako fishing,” said Ali Hood, Director of Conservation for Shark Trust. “Although more lenient than a ban, the new mako landing limits are well placed to achieve a substantial reduction in fishing pressure on the South Atlantic population. We thank the UK and EU for prompting these negotiations and seeing them through to a meaningful result on which we must continuously and ambitiously build.”

CITES News: Sharks step into the Spotlight

Exciting news from the first week of the CITES conference of Parties where the shark proposals have stepped into the spotlight!

First up was the proposal to list more than 50 requiem sharks including Sandbar Sharks, Caribbean Reef Sharks and Tiger Sharks. This proposal that was never going to go unopposed given it included Blue Sharks as a look-alike species: a lucrative element of high seas longline fisheries. Following much debate, with proposed amendments overturned, the vote supported the listing on Appendix II of CITES – a decision to be ‘signed-off’ at the plenary session later this week.

Further proposals for small hammerheads and freshwater stingrays met less opposition, passing with consensus, and guitarfishes by a convincing margin.

Huge congratulations to all NGOs and individuals who support #CITES4Sharks and who worked so hard to get these proposals on the table at both CITES and ICCAT. We look forward to seeing these CITES proposals formally adopted in plenary later this week!

Watch out for more news early next week!

Header image: Jacob Brunetti

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Shark Trust

The Shark Trust is the leading UK-based shark conservation charity. The team works globally to safeguard the future of sharks, and their close cousins, the skates and rays. Engaging with a global network of scientists, policymakers, conservation professionals, businesses and supporters, to further shark conservation. Established in 1997 to provide a voice for UK sharks, the Shark Trust has an ever-growing number of passionate supporters. And together we're creating positive change for sharks around the world. Want to join us and help protect sharks around the world? Click here! www.sharktrust.org

Marine Life & Conservation

Book Review: Nudibranchs of Britain, Ireland and Northwest Europe

Published

1 day ago

June 5, 2023

Nick and Caroline Robertson-Brown

Nudibranchs of Britain, Ireland and Northwest Europe: Second Edition by Bernard Picton and Christine Morrow

Do you love nudibranchs? Like many others, I do. I love trying to find them on dives and always marvel at how beautiful many of them are. Some are so small that you can barely see them with the naked eye and others are quite large. What I didn’t quite realize was just how many different species you can find in our waters. Over 195 species! And this book gives each a double page spread with images and information about where they can be found, a detailed description, key characteristics and similar species to help you with identification.

The book is packed with colour photos to help you work out what you have seen, and for those that are truly obsessed with nudi-hunting, what you might like to find next. The opening pages give the reader a host of useful and interesting information about their feeding and reproductive habits, their anatomy, how to find them, and where to record your finds to help scientist discover more about them.

Ever since the book arrived, I have been dipping into in, selecting a random page and enjoying the wealth of information and stunning images within. It is a book that simply makes you want to don your dive gear and head underwater to look for these charismatic creatures. For anyone that loves the weird and wonderful world of sea slugs (an who doesn’t), this is a book you are going to want to have in your collection.

What the publisher says:

Nudibranchs, or sea slugs, are a group of marine gastropod molluscs whose adults lack shells, an evolutionary loss that has led to a wide variety of body shapes, colours and colour patterns, making them popular with divers and underwater photographers. In this book, experienced nudibranch experts Bernard Picton and Christine Morrow provide an accessible and authoritative photographic identification guide for anyone interested in finding and identifying nudibranchs in the coastal waters of Britain, Ireland and Northwest Europe.

Covers more than 195 species, each on its own two-page spread
Includes in situ photos to aid finding nudibranchs under water and on the shore
Features photos of nudibranchs’ distinctive spawn coils and studio photos showing detailed anatomy
Presents key distinguishing features and essential information on size, habitat, diet and distribution

Book Details

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Series: Wild Nature Press

Paperback

Price: £35

ISBN: 9780691208794

Published (UK): 6th June 2023

Pages: 360

Marine Life & Conservation

The Shark Trust Great Shark Snapshot is back!

Published

4 weeks ago

May 11, 2023

Shark Trust

The last week of July will see the return of the Shark Trust’s citizen science initiative that invites divers and snorkelers, all around the world, to record the sharks and rays that they see between the 22nd and 30th. After the success of the first event, this year is going to be even bigger and better.

Information about the species and numbers of sharks and rays the participants find over the week will be added to the Shark Trust’s Shark Log. This global shark census will, over time, allow shark scientists to build a picture of species distribution and any changes that occur. Sharks are threatened by destructive fishing, climate change and habitat loss. The data collected during the Great Shark Snapshot will help scientists put effective conservation plans in place.

Dive clubs, centres, and liveaboards can sign up to show their support for this event and advertise their planned dives on the Great Shark Snapshot registration page. Divers looking to join an event will be able to use the map to find Great Shark Snapshot dives taking place near them. As well as gathering vital data, the event will provide a chance to celebrate the incredible shark and ray species that live close to you.

Caroline Robertson-Brown, Marketing Coordinator at the Shark Trust said: “It was wonderful to see so many divers take part in our first event last year. What is even better is seeing those dive centres and liveaboards returning to take part again this year, along with many more signing up for the first time.”

With the event still 2 months away, dive centres and liveaboards from over 20 countries have already signed up to take part. From Palau to Costa Rica. From the UK to Australia. Whether you are diving your local dive site, or on the diving trip of a lifetime. You can take part in the Great Shark Snapshot.

It is easy to join in. Just go diving between 22nd and 30th July and record every shark, ray and skate that your dive group sees. If possible, take photos and some video footage too. The Shark Trust really wants to see what species you encounter on your dives. Then make sure that you record your sightings on the Shark Trust Shark Log recordings website or by using the Shark Trust app.