Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

Until rediscovered in 1998, the Borneo River Shark was recognised from just one preserved, century-old specimen in a Vienna museum.

In 1997, a mischievous chef placed a three-foot shark, originally destined for a restaurant, on the edge of the River Voeckla, resulting in public alarm and warnings to keep dogs and children out of the water. Find out more

Photo: Shark discovered on the banks of the River Voeckla

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

Belgium is ranked high in catches of rays and demand for spiny dogfish meat. In 2007, Belgium was the site of at least two illegal landings of basking shark, an EU protected species. The Shark Alliance was on the scene for one of them.
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Brussels, as the capital of the EU, is the site for most EU fish management decisions. Representatives from Belgium have played leadership roles in gaining attention for sharks at global forums, such as international wildlife treaty meetings.

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

Bulgarian vessels were part of a Black Sea spiny dogfish fishery that peaked in the early 1980s. Today, tourist sites advertise sport fishing for these Black Sea sharks. Spiny dogfish are still valuable, overfished and unregulated in the Black Sea. The thornback ray is also found and fished here.

Image: Thornback ray © Sally Sharrock

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

Cyprus reported 13 tonnes of shark and ray catches in 2003. In 2008, fishermen landed a 350kg shortfin mako as well as a gigantic basking shark in Cyprus, creating quite a local media stir.
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Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

The collection of nearly 200 skeletal parts from 28 shark species at the National Museum in Prague is one of the richest in Europe.

The Czech Republic is home to several award-winning underwater filmmakers.

As EU President in the first half of 2009, the Czech Republic is expected to preside over the Council of Ministers' response to the EU Plan of Action for Shark Conservation.

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Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

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.

Image: Rabbitfish shark © Marc Dando

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

Vessels from Estonia take significant amounts of spiny dogfish, rays and deepsea sharks from the North Atlantic; in fact, skates ranked fourth in Estonia's marine fish landings for 2004. Estonia has the lowest level of shark imports of all the Baltic countries.

Image: Thorny skate © Jeff Kneebone

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

Renny Harlin, a Finn, directed the 1999 feature film, Deep Blue Sea, in which genetically engineered mako sharks, subjects of medical experiments, unexpectedly grow smarter, faster and more agile, and begin hunting down the researchers who altered their brains.

A close relative of the mako, the porbeagle shark, has been recorded (albeit rarely) near the islands off the western Finnish coast in the Baltic Sea.

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

France is home to the EU's only targeted fishery for Critically Endangered porbeagle sharks and thus received the largest share of the first EU porbeagle catch limit, imposed in 2008. The French government spearheaded an initiative to prohibit targeted shark fishing in Antarctic waters and French fishermen have been among the only EU industry representatives to support a fool-proof finning ban - one that requires sharks be landed with their fins attached.

Image: Porbeagle shark © Rory Goodall

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

Germany has attempted to act as a responsible consumer of Threatened spiny dogfish and porbeagle sharks by proposing limits on international trade in their parts.

At the same time, Germany maintains shares of the overall EU quotas for these species (considered Critically Endangered off Europe). Spiny dogfish are particularly popular in Germany; the belly flaps are smoked and sold as 'Schillerlocken' in fish markets and beer gardens.

Image: Bremen fish fair (c) Deepwave

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

The Ancient Greeks believed that sharks were a source of magical powers. Aeschines wrote about Apollo punishing politicians who had ignored him by sending sharks to attack them while they were bathing in the sea. In History of Animals, Aristotle recorded the first scientific study of sharks, skates and rays.

In 2006, Greece had the largest number (21%) of fishing vessels of any EU Member State.

Image: Fishing harbour with fishing boats © Shark Trust

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

In January 2008, an aquarium in eastern Hungary celebrated a "virgin birth" after its lone female, white-tipped reef shark produced a pup without contact with a male shark. Read more

In 2006, a Hungarian diver set a world record for the deepest unaided scuba dive (270 meters) off the Egyptian coast of the Red Sea, a popular spot for diving with sharks.

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

Between 1947 and 1975, a basking shark fishery operating out of Achill Island. Today, recreational, catch and release fishing for blue sharks and "common" skates is a significant business in Ireland. The west of Ireland is home to a few remaining pockets of this Critically Endangered species of skate. Ireland holds shares of the overall EU quotas for Critically Endangered spiny dogfish and porbeagle sharks.

Image: Common skate © Terry Jackson

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

Italy is the top consumer of shark meat in the EU and the fourth largest importer of shark products in the world (13,000 tonnes in 2006). Rome serves as the headquarters for the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the body that created the International Plan of Action (IPOA) for Sharks in 1999, which in turn prompted the ongoing development of the EU Plan of Action for Sharks.

Image: Porbeagle steaks on sale in an Italian supermarket for 7.99 Euros per kilo
© Eleonora de Sabata, Medsharks

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

Despite its location and focus on the Baltic, Latvia has vessels fishing on the high seas, which usually land fish in nearby countries. Latvia has not reported shark landings since 1990.

An active Latvian dive club arranges tours to the Red Sea, where sharks are a popular draw.

Image: Latvia Dive Club on Diving Safari in Red Sea © J?ras V?jš Dive Club

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

Vessels from Lithuania take significant amounts of spiny dogfish, rays and deepsea sharks from the North Atlantic. Lithuania is one of just five EU Member States to have issued the "special fishing permits" that allow the removal of shark fins at sea (while retaining the bodies) under the derogation in the EU finning ban.

Image: Shark fins © Jessica King/Marine Photobank

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

Luxembourg has its own Elasmobranch Organization and Shark Museum. The Secretariat of the European Parliament, the Parliament's administrative body, is also based in Luxembourg.

Image: Jean-Pierre "Joe" HERBER, founder and director of the Luxembourg Elasmobranch Organization.

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

In 1997, Malta became the first EU country to protect the great white shark; that year Malta also protected the basking shark and giant devil ray. Dogfish ranked fourth in the marine fish species landed by Malta fishermen in 2004. Both the world famous "Sharkman" and EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg hail from Malta.

Image: left: Sharkman; right Joe Borg © European Commission

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

The Netherlands was the first EU Member State to seek assistance from the European Commission to protect marine habitats within their waters under the Common Fisheries Policy, resulting in the 2008 establishment of five, nearshore areas within which most fishing is prohibited. Dutch scientists and fishermen recently collaborated on a study of bycatch of sharks and manta rays in pelagic factory trawler vessels fishing off Northwest Africa.

Image: Egmond aan Zee – beach NL © Jonne1985 FlickR Creative Commons

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

Central Poland has yielded some of the world's oldest fossils of early sharks from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

Today, Poland imports sharks for consumption, but does not report any shark or ray landings, even though there are such species in the Baltic Sea.

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

Portugal is ranked third among EU Member State for catches of sharks (mainly blues followed by rays, makos and deepwater species). Oceanic sharks are increasingly targeted and make up more than 80% of the catch from Portugal's surface longline fleet, the second largest in the EU. In 2007, Portugal's Environment Minister publicly expressed his concern for shark populations.

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

Romanian vessels were part of a Black Sea spiny dogfish fishery that peaked in the early 1980s. The sharks are considered valuable species today. Romania was one of a handful of countries to take the floor and argue successfully for landmark limits on trade in whale sharks at the 2002 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting.

Image: Whale shark © Rachel Graham

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

In May 2008, traces of millions of shark teeth from the Tertiary period were found in a sandpit in Pr’belce, in south-central Slovakia. In 2004, a Slovakian teenager, moved by a trip to the world famous Bimini Shark Lab, mounted a campaign to protest development of critical shark habitat in the Bahamas, collecting 700 signatures on a petition to the Prime Minister.

Image: Lemon shark © Sarah Lardizaba/Marine Photobank

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

The Marine Biological Station of Piran, Slovenia was a founding member of the Mediterranean Shark Research Group. Slovenia has a small coastline but reports significant shark catches, consisting primarily of smooth-hounds.

Image: smooth-hound © Hans Hillewaert/ Wikimedia

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

Spain, consistently among the top five shark fishing countries in the world, was the first EU country to adopt a ban on shark finning in 2002. Spanish government and fishery representatives, however, have been the EU's most vocal opponents to strengthening the EU finning ban, limiting overall shark catch, and protecting endangered shark species.

Image: Blue shark © Brian J Skerry, National Geographic Image Collection

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

Sweden is the only EU country to use national regulations to limit fishing for Critically Endangered spiny dogfish and to protect Critically Endangered porbeagle sharks (and several other species of sharks and rays). Since then, however, Sweden took a share of the new EU porbeagle quota and had a role in removing limits on spiny dogfish catch in the western Baltic and adjacent areas.

Image: Deepsea shark on sale in a Stockholm fish market.

Shark Catches 2005

Shark connection

The UK has been the EU's greatest champion for sharks. Most notably, the UK led a successful battle to secure landmark international trade restrictions for the basking shark and has used national legislation to protect this species as well as angel sharks and tope. The UK, however, holds the lion's share of the EU quota for Critically Endangered spiny dogfish and a portion of the EU quota for Critically Endangered porbeagle sharks. The UK also tops the EU for take of skates and rays, many of which are depleted.

Image: Angel shark © Simon Rogerson