IATTC takes steps to safeguard rays, but leaves finning ban weak, and sharks under-protected
Guayaquil, Ecuador. July 3, 2015. Fishing nations at the annual meeting of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) have taken concrete, groundbreaking steps to conserve Eastern Pacific manta and devil rays, but have failed to reach consensus on proposals to strengthen the region’s ban on shark finning (slicing off a shark's fins and discarding the body at sea) or on bids to curb fishing of hammerhead and silky sharks.
Tuna and other fish species may congregate around whale sharks, but new rule reduces the chance that the giant sea creatures could get caught in nets targeting those species.
Whale sharks are among the largest living fish in the world -- weighing up to 40,000 pounds and 40 feet in length. They are also so docile that humans often swim with them without concern, snapping photographs of their incredible size.
The European Commission (EC) has expressed its disappointment with the outcomes of the 87th Annual meeting of the Inter American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), which finished on 18 July in Lima, Peru.
Last week, governments gathered in La Jolla, California for the annual meeting of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), a regional fisheries management organization (RFMO) responsible for managing tuna fisheries across an area totaling approximately 68 million square kilometers (26 million square miles).