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Danish vessels were taking more deepwater velvet belly sharks (the region's smallest shark) than other EU countries until 2001, after which they began to land the once-discarded rabbit-fish (a type of deepsea chimaera) from the entrance to the Baltic Sea.
Denmark serves as the base for the International Council for Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the scientific body that formulates the scientific advice for EU fishing limits on Northeast Atlantic fish, including sharks and rays.
As EU President in the first half of 2012, Denmark is playing a key role in facilitating the final stages of the long process to strengthen the EU ban on shark finning.
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For the last 20 years, the bulk of Danish shark and ray catches has been made up of primarily spurdog. Spurdog and therefore shark landings by Danish vessels peaked in the early 1990s and then fell dramatically. Porbeagle was also regularly until recently. The EU has now closed Atlantic fisheries for both spurdog and porbeagle. Between 1980 and 2004, a couple of tonnes (t) of blue shark were reported in Danish landings each year. Since 1996, tope shark has been caught on a regular basis; Denmark reports about 4 t per year of this species.
In recent years, Denmark’s exports of shark products have been higher than the shark landings reported by Danish vessels. Denmark imports more shark products (mainly dogfish and catsharks) than it exports, but both imports and exports have declined significantly since the early 1990s Fresh dogfish are the most important shark product traded.
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Denmark has 13 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), ten (77%) of whom signed the Written Declaration (71/2010) in support of strengthening the EU shark finning ban.
Denmark has seven votes in the EU Fisheries Council. It has a particularly influential role in this key decision-making body in the first half of 2012, when it holds the Presidency of the EU.
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Denmark does not issue the special permits that allow EU fishermen to remove shark fins at sea under the current EU finning regulation. Danish fishermen are therefore required to land sharks with their fins still attached. During EU Member State discussion of the European Commission’s final EU Shark Action Plan in early 2009, Denmark expressed support for prompt implementation of the Plan’s elements, including improvements to the finning ban.
At the March 2012 EU Fisheries Council, Denmark, during their EU Presidency, supported the Commission’s proposal to require all sharks to be landed with fins attached
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| Beyond EU and international commitments, there are no national protections for shark and ray species in Denmark. |
If your organization is interested in joining the Shark Alliance in Denmark, we’d be delighted to hear from you.
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Denmark Country Profile
Reports
EU Shark Conservation: Recent Progress and Priorities for Action Download pdf
Sharks in the Baltic Executive Summary
Fact Sheet
Sharks and the Baltic Region
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Concerned citizens, particularly those of Denmark, can help by expressing to Danish officials support for:
- active promotion for an EU-wide ban on at-sea shark fin removal
- continued complete closure of EU porbeagle, spurdog, and deepwater shark fisheries
- leadership within EU delegations to international fisheries meetings
- national protections for endangered shark and ray species, and
- recording of shark and ray landings and trade by species and product.
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