As the international shark conservation movement continues to gather steam, the Trinidad Express sheds some light on Trinidad and Tobago’s participation in the global shark fin trade and its implications for the country’s shark populations:
For those among us who associate finning solely with Asian countries, think again. Trinidad and Tobago ranks 19th among 87 countries for largest exports of shark fins to Hong Kong, according to a March 2010 report by marine conservation organisation Oceana, titled ‘The International Trade of Shark Fins: endangering shark populations worldwide.’ Back in 2008, this country exported 103,104 kgs of shark fins to Hong Kong – the world’s largest single market for this product. Ironically, four years earlier in November 2004, at the annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), T&T was one of the co-sponsors of a shark proposal to ban the practice of shark finning, yet to this day, Trinidad and Tobago has no policy on shark finning. Up to 50 Asian longline vessels operate in our waters said Aboud. Among their spoils? Shark fins, which are then hung out to dry.
This country’s links with finning goes back many years. In 1999, a report by the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Marine Resources titled Sharks: overview of the fisheries in T&T stated that the sharks which were caught in our waters were primarily incidental catch or ‘by-catch’ of the artisinal fishery and industrial longline fishery. But the report also suggested that finning was done at sea. It stated that shark fins represented 19 per cent of landings in 1993, while 23 tonnes of shark fins were recorded in 1992. The document went on to conclude that there had been unsubstantiated reports of large quantities of shark fins landed with very few carcasses. The report noted there was no management regime for shark in T&T and warned that the shark stocks were vulnerable to unrestrained exploitation.
That grim assessment was made more than a decade ago, today, unregulated shark fishing has led to a decline in the number of sharks in the waters off T&T. In March of this year, visting New Zealand marine conservationist and head of the Earthrace Conservation Organisation Pete Bethune said there was no longer a stable supply of shark in our waters and blamed the scores of Taiwanese fishing vessels operating in local waters for this country’s depleted fisheries. With no scientific data collection mechanisms in place, it is difficult to estimate how many sharks still roam our waters. When famed ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau visited these islands in the 1950′s, he estimated that our waters teemed with 35 species of shark, today, just a small fraction of species remain in our waters, said Aboud.
Read more in the original Express article, Sharks’ future in peril.
Thanks to the Trini Eco Warriors for the heads-up.
[Photo: via stopsharkfinning.net]
