Endangered shark “butchered” in the Cayman Islands; no law against it

A vendor at a fish market in the Cayman Islands was recently seen offering shark meat for sale, raising public concern about the fact that sharks are not a protected species under Caymanian law:

Following enquiries by some members of the public about the sale of a scalloped hammerhead shark at Cayman’s fish-market, the Department of Environment (DoE) has said that, despite the fact that globally shark populations are severely threatened with overfishing, there are currently no laws prohibiting the capture or sale of any sharks in the Cayman Islands.

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“…Sharks are of course protected within local Marine Parks and the Environmental Zones but as most species range over much larger areas than the boundaries of the parks, marine protected areas offer little protection for sharks generally,” DoE officials said.

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Globally all shark populations have declined dramatically, including the scalloped hammerhead, which the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists as endangered. This means this type of shark is considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild. Locally these sharks were sighted with more regularity no more than a decade ago. However, in recent years sightings have diminished for unknown reasons and the current status of local populations of scalloped hammerheads remains largely undetermined.

Regionally the scalloped hammerhead is known to have declined drastically (by around 98%, IUCN) and it is thought that this is largely due to increased commercial fishing pressure targeting mainly tunas and billfish, the DoE’s experts stated. Other shark species facing similar declines in the Caribbean include the great hammerhead and oceanic whitetip (99% declines since the 1950’s in the Gulf of Mexico alone).

“Given the importance of a robust shark population in a healthy marine ecosystem, the Department of Environment is currently involved in a 2 year collaborative study with Marine Conservation International (MCI), the Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI) at Nova Southeastern University and the Save Our Seas to better understand the current status of sharks in our local waters,” the DoE said in a release following the public concern about the sale of the shark at the local market.

The project is funded by the UK’s Overseas Territory Environment Programme (OTEP) and the Save Our Seas Foundation and will result in comprehensive management recommendations to ensure sharks receive the protection and recognition they so desperately require.

For more see Sharks not protected despite endangered status from the Cayman News Service and DoE: Endangered shark caught, butchered from the Compass Cayman (in the latter article, it is noted that the shark was caught by accident, not intentionally). Also of interest: the Cayman Islands Sharks & Cetaceans group on Facebook.

Recently in The Bahamas, concerned citizens and conservationists have been lobbying for shark fishing to be made illegal (see also). Perhaps this incident will provoke similar action in the Caymans.

[Photo: via compasscayman.com]

Tags: cayman islands