Sport fishermen agree to curb shark catch in B.C. waters to protect species
By Larry Pynn, Vancouver SunFebruary 6, 2011
Recreational fishermen have agreed to new federal sportfishing regulations that would dramatically reduce the allowable catch of sharks off the B.C. coast.
"We are aware of the threat to sharks all over the world," Gerry Kristianson, chair of the Sport Fishing Advisory Board, said in an interview Sunday. "We are fully prepared to protect them as best we can."
At a three-day meeting ending Sunday, the board agreed to support creation of a federal regulation that would ban directed fishing of sharks for which there is a science-based conservation concern. Any caught by accident would have to be released.
That would include species such as basking sharks, which are listed as endangered both under the federal Species At Risk Act and by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. The latter group also lists bluntnose sixgill and soupfin sharks as special concern.
Kristianson said the board, which represents sport-fishing concerns to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, also agreed to reduce the daily allowable catch of dogfish to four from 20. The tidal sportfishing rule changes are expected to take effect April 1.
As for salmon sharks -the shark species that sport fishermen are most likely to encounter after dogfish in B.C. waters -the board referred the matter back for further study, Kristianson noted there appear to be plenty of salmon sharks in B.C.'s northern waters and that Alaska allows their retention.
New regulations taking effect Feb. 21 will also prohibit the commercial groundfish trawl fleet from retaining shark species for which there is a conservation concern, said federal groundfish manager Tamee Mawani.
Other species of sharks (except dogfish, for which there is a longstanding commercial fishery) that are retained as part of a vessel's catch must be forfeited upon arrival at dock.
The commercial groundfish hook-and-line fleet is already forbidden from retaining such sharks.
Mawani said the groundfish fleet will be issued shark-identification cards to get a better handle on the species being caught offshore. Ottawa will also work with the recreational sector on how to better handle dogfish, whether or not a fishermen plans to keep them.
Ernie Cooper, a wildlife trade specialist with the World Wildlife Fund in Vancouver, said he is encouraged by the new fishing regulations. "It's definitely a step in the right direction. The future for conservation of sharks on this coast is definitely looking up."
But Cooper remains concerned that Canada continues to allow the importation of shark fins and other shark products from unsustainable fisheries. "It all has to do with Canada's footprint," he said. "Canada is a wealthy nation that imports products, including sharks, from around the world. The global fin trade is having a massive impact on sharks."
According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Canada imported 311,600 kilograms of shark products in 2009, of which 77,000 kilograms were dried or frozen shark fins.
Shark-fin soup is strictly a status symbol in the Asian community; the fins do not even provide flavour. There is a grassroots effort within the Chinese community in Vancouver and abroad to stop serving shark-fin soup, which is especially popular at wedding banquets.
"We're not talking about medicines or a major source of nutrition," Cooper said. "This is a luxury item. There is no need for shark-fin soup."
A recent federal report from the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo documented 15 species of shark in B.C. waters, including great whites that wash ashore occasionally, mainly on the east side of Haida Gwaii, and a smooth hammerhead caught off the west coast of Vancouver Island in the 1950s.
lpynn@vancouversun.com© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
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