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Myths and Realities about the Shark Regulation |
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Written by Admin
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Tuesday, 11 November 2003 |
In February 2001, the board of directors of INCOPESCA (Costa Rican
Fishery Department) ratified the regulation (AJDIP-47) which demanded
that sharks must be landed with fins attached. A new regulation
(AJDIP-415), nullifies the former regulation and permits the landing of
unattached fins, as long as they correspond to specified fin:carcass
weight ratios. The regulation proposes to use "biologist regents" to
check ratios and collect species data.
In
February 2001, the board of directors of INCOPESCA (Costa Rican Fishery
Department) ratified the regulation (AJDIP-47) which demanded that
sharks must be landed with fins attached. A new regulation (AJDIP-415),
nullifies the former regulation and permits the landing of unattached
fins, as long as they correspond to specified fin:carcass weight
ratios. The regulation proposes to use "biologist regents" to check
ratios and collect species data.
MYTH: This new regulation facilitates biological research.
REALITY: Species identification is severely frustrated when fins are
landed unattached, or when frozen beheaded carcasses are landed without
fins. On the other hand, when fins are landed attached to carcasses,
species identification is facilitated.
MYTH: Fins weigh 7.7% of a shark carcass weight, or as high as 12.7% per the discretion of a biologist regent.
REALITY: A Univ. of Florida 8-year program on board commercial fishing
vessels, during which more than 27,000 sharks of 28 species were
studied, showed average fin weight to be 4.9% of carcass weight. The
IUCN Shark Specialist Group states that shark fins should not exceed 5%
of carcass weight.
MYTH: The new regulation is based on complete and exhaustive research.
REALITY: The report, upon which regulation was based, lacks sections
for background, discussion and cited literature. It does not make use
of the best scientific information available and reaches relevant
conclusions after a two week study.
MYTH: The new regulation is designed to improve controls.
REALITY: AJDIP-415 is a watered down version of AJDIP-47. Foreign
vessels were frustrated by the regulation which prohibited the landing
of shark fins in Costa Rica and they went to great lengths to evade
that regulation. But now using a percentage of 12.7%, the new
regulation opens the door for vessels to fin more than 60% of the
sharks captured, discard carcasses at sea and land unattached shark
fins without violating any Costa Rican law or regulation.
MYTH: There are different types of fin cutting, in particular a cut
known as the "Asian Cut" which leaves more flesh attached at the base
of the fins.
REALITY: The valuable parts of shark fins are the cartilaginous rays.
Any meat left at the base of the fin is ALWAYS cut off when fins are
landed at port. The only possible reason for leaving meat on the fin
would be to increase apparent fin weight percentages. Furthermore, when
meat is left on the fins the value of the carcass is reduced,
encouraging fishermen to discard carcasses at sea.
MYTH: Demanding that fins must be attached is not feasible, because it
creates severe problems for storing sharks within the hold of a vessel
at sea, and because fishermen need to thaw shark carcasses in order to
fully remove the fins, and during the thawing and refreezing process,
product quality is diminished.
REALITY: Fishermen partially cut off the fins such that they remain
attached to the carcass by a strip of flesh, but can be bent to the
side for ease of storing in a vessels hold. Furthermore, when fins are
landed attached with this method, fishermen need not thaw the
carcasses. The small final cuts to completely remove the fins can be
made even when carcasses are frozen
MYTH: If a vessel lands unattached fins in violation of the terms of
the new regulation, INCOPESCA will not authorize the commercialization
of the products.
REALITY: If fins are landed in violation of the specified percentages,
biologist regents will give a report to INCOPESCA officials. However,
as shark fins are always rapidly transported from docks to undisclosed
locations, by the time an INCOPESCA official sees the report,
whereabouts of the fins will be unknown. INCOPESCA officials simply
cannot prohibit the commercialization of fins which they do not have in
their possession.
MYTH: INCOPESCA is capable of controlling the situation.
REALITY: INCOPESCA's record shows the following: foreign vessels land
illegally at private docks and have illegally landed tonnes of shark
fins in Puntarenas. Furthermore, foreign vessels that have been filmed
fishing illegally in Costa Rica's EEZ (Shen 1 Tsay 3, of Taiwan),
continue to land in Puntarenas and are not punished.
MYTH: The new regulation conforms to the UN FAO International Plan of Action for Sharks.
REALITY: Article 5.4 of the UN FAO International Plan of Action for
Sharks recommends that sharks be landed with fins attached specifically
to facilitate the identification of shark species for scientific
research
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