Isles taken to
task for treatment
of sharks
A critical Audubon Society
By Pat Omandam
report comes as the area's fisheries
management agency
meets in Honolulu
Star-BulletinHawaii has the lowest rating of the five Pacific states when it comes to management of sharks and skates, a close relative of the shark, according to a report released today by the National Audubon Society.
Meanwhile, the federal agency in charge of Western Pacific fisheries meets this week in Honolulu, in part to discuss shark management.
Dr. Merry Camhi of the Audubon Society said the report, Sharks on the Line II, examines the status of sharks and skates fisheries and their management in U.S. waters. The study rated each of the five states -- Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington -- based on the size of their shark/skate fisheries as well as on other criteria, including bag and size catch limits and a ban on the practice of shark-finning.
California received the highest ranking because the state has actively managed its shark fisheries over the past decade. It was followed by Alaska, Washington and Oregon.
The report listed Hawaii as having a dismal record on sharks, and it received the lowest rating. Hawaii accounts for 60 percent of U.S. Pacific shark landings.
Camhi said shark and skate management in the Pacific is spotty at best because these species receive little or no protection in state and federal waters. The report calls for government to begin precautionary management for these species in the Pacific.
Because they grow slowly, mature late and produce few young, sharks are extremely vulnerable to overfishing. Demand for shark products, particularly their fins, has led to the decline of many shark populations around the world. About 10.4 million pounds of sharks were landed for the five states in 1998 -- about the same amount of landings for all 18 Atlantic and Gulf Coast states, the report said.
Of that amount, Hawaii-based boats landed in excess of 6.2 million pounds of shark last year.
"Can shark and skates sustain the increasing catches they're experiencing?" Camhi said. "We simply do not know."
Most sharks and skates caught in the Pacific are not targeted by commercial fisherman but are caught unintentionally in the long-line fishing gear used by them.
In 1998 at least 75 percent of this shark bycatch was by Hawaii longline vessels targeting tuna and swordfish, and by Alaskan nets, lines and trawls.
What's more, the report said, the number of sharks killed in the Pacific has skyrocketed over the past eight years.
In 1991 fewer than 3,000 sharks were killed. In 1998 the number rose to 61,000. Of these, 98 percent were taken only for their fins, which are in great demand in Asian markets for the popular shark fin soup.
Conservationists, fishermen, scientists, politicians and the public have criticized the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council for not moving fast enough to ban shark-finning in the Pacific.
"Simply prohibiting finning and requiring the live release of all sharks brought to the boat could immediately reduce shark mortality by approximately 86 percent," said Dr. David Wilcox, director of the Ocean Wildlife Campaign, which endorses the National Audubon Society's report.
But Council Chairman James Cook has said the council must consider everyone's view on shark management and that the science shows the resource is in good shape.
Pelagic, or deep ocean, sharks are caught all over the Pacific, including American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.
The council meets through Thursday at the Sheraton-Waikiki Hotel's Lanai Ballroom.
On the agenda is discussion of an issues paper examining options for managing sharks or certain species of sharks.
Impetus for the paper comes from the increased retention of blue sharks caught as bycatch by Hawaii boats and the recent arrival in Hawaiian waters of a longline boat designed to catch sharks.
The council plans to debate shark management at the 8:30 a.m. Wednesday meeting on pelagic fisheries. Call 522-8220 for more information.
