Reflection on shark conservation again
Tens of millions of sharks and closely related rays are killed each year in fisheries, either intentionally or as by catch. Too often their populations are being fished faster than they can reproduce. Despite the mounting evidence of shark overfishing and depletion, few countries restrict shark fishing. Even fewer have managed shark fisheries successfully. Most sharks do not stay within the waters of any one country, migrating across national and international boundaries. Some species, such as makos and blue sharks, travel across entire ocean basins. Yet, there are virtually no international limits on the catch of sharks. By catch is the unintentional or incidental capture of non-target species during fishing operations. By catch is a significant global issue. The by catch of sharks can be particularly problematic as sharks usually have slower growth rates than the target species. Shark populations may be seriously depleted through by catch from a targeted fishery that may be sustainable because shark by catch is often thrown back into the sea dead, or landed but not reported, the depletion of shark populations may go unnoticed for long periods of time – as is the case with several species of large-bodied North Atlantic skates. So even during fishing, fishermen should also look out what they will catch.
Link(shark at risk)=http://www.sharkalliance.org/v.asp?level2id=14&rootid=14&depth=1