23
Sep 2008 - Indiscriminate fishing and the
shark fin soup trade are key threats facing
around 100 new shark and ray species discovered
recently off the coasts of Australia.
The discoveries, by
Australia’s leading scientific research
organization CSIRO, will be considered by
60 of the world’s leading shark experts
in Sydney this week.
“It is a major scientific
breakthrough,” said WWF-Australia fisheries
manager Peter Trott.
The Oceania Chondrichthyan
Society’s opening workshop, hosted by WWF-Australia,
will help set the agenda for future research
on the new species.
Many of the species
are elusive or live in remote and isolated
places like Australia’s Coral Sea, a world-renowned
marine predator hotspot, and they include
one so rare that the only example was found
in the belly of another shark.
Recent research by Australian
and international researchers revealed that
confusion between separate species of sharks
and rays meant that new, rare or endangered
species may have been mistaken for a similar
looking, but more common species and inadvertently
taken by fishermen.
“We are literally fishing
in the dark when it comes to sharks and
rays,” said Trott. “In many cases we simply
do not know what species we are plucking
from Australian waters.
“We now need to know
what changes in management are needed to
conserve these animals, and that is what
the experts will try to answer.”
Various shark species
cull injured and sick animals from the ocean
and thus play an important ecological role.
Without such shark species the oceans would
be teeming with dead and dying fish.
Yet millions of sharks
are killed each year by humans, with many
killed deliberately for their fins which
are made into shark’s fin soup. The fins
are cut off and the rest of the shark is
thrown back into the sea.
Mr Trott said he expected
the scientists to urgently call for more
funding to research sharks and for stronger
fisheries management to identify those sharks
that were caught by commercial fishers.
“Sharks play a crucial
role in the balance and health of marine
ecosystems,” he said. “They are slow-growing,
long-lived and produce few young, which
leaves them extremely vulnerable to overfishing.
“We cannot afford to
lose sharks from our oceans. If we cannot
afford to manage them properly, then it
might be best to leave them alone.”
+ More
Judge calls time on
Italy’s groundhog day
26 Sep 2008 - Bolzano,
Italy: As more and more regional authorities
in Italy ride roughshod over national and
European hunting law, at least one supposedly
protected species has been granted a stay
of execution.
The lives of more than
2,000 marmots, the large ground squirrels
found in northern Italy and other mountainous
areas all over the world, have been saved
following a strident appeal by WWF-Italy,
along with two Italian animal rights associations.
Despite being protected
by Italian law, for the past three years
provincial authorities in Bolzano have declared
open season from September 1 (three weeks
before the start of the hunting season)
on nearly 2,000 of the furry creatures –
known as groundhogs in North America – claiming
they are harmful to pastures where cows
graze.
Each year WWF-Italy
has appealed successfully against the local
law but the ruling has never been made in
time to save the marmots. This year it staged
a sit-in in front of the Bolzano administrative
headquarters on 28 August and the law was
repealed immediately.
“We are very happy that
the regional court approved our request
for immediate suspension of the decree,”
said Massimiliano Rocco of WWF-Italy. “Otherwise,
starting from 1 September, hunters could
have shot marmots causing great environmental
damage and going against the national law.”
Marmots play an important
role in the Alpine environment and an equally
important one in the food chain, particularly
regarding wolves and golden eagles.
“This is the first time
we have managed to stop the decree before
the killing,” said Rocco, “but the wrongful
and irresponsible behaviour of the Province,
that every year repeats the same unlawful
action, is unacceptable.”
The start of the 2008
hunting season in Italy has witnessed 15
out of 20 regions allowing the hunting of
several migratory and non-migratory species
including blackbirds, partridges, hares
and rabbits well ahead of the 21 September
opening date.
Seven regions even allowed
the hunting of protected species such as
sparrows, chaffinches and cormorants, despite
the fact that the European Court of Justice
cautioned Italy for such hunting in 2006.
This year, more
than ever before, Italy’s regional authorities
have challenged the law and threatened wild
species during the late summer period when
they are most vulnerable.
