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The trouble with Europe
Despite the immediate threats facing sharks, there are few limits in Europe on shark fishing, and quotas are routinely set far in excess of scientific advice.
Europe is home to some of the world’s largest fishing fleets and its powerful fisheries officials exert influence on international fishing restrictions in many regions of the globe. As a result, poor European shark policies and enforcement pose threats to sharks not only in European waters but in other parts of the world as well.
The EU is setting a poor example to other nations that may look to it for guidance on the regulation of shark finning. In 2003, the EU adopted a ban on shark finning but at the same time allowed glaring loopholes that render the ban all but meaningless.
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European quotas are routinely set far in excess of scientific advice. © CRAM World
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Most of the world’s regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) are heavily influenced by their active EU members, so fishing regulations for international waters are not likely to be any more stringent than those in EU waters.
With its finning regulations more lenient than those of the US and Canada, the EU is acting as the ‘lowest common denominator’ at several RFMOs and weakening the international standards established there.
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