British Virgin Islands to become shark sanctuary

A shark sanctuary is to be created in the territorial waters of The British Virgin Island, its government has announced. The waters cover an approximate 31,000 square miles and it is hoped that the sanctuary will help protect all shark species. Shark numbers have been dwindling and in January the IUCN announced that a quarter of the world’s sharks and rays are threatened with extinction.

Kedrick Pickering, deputy premier and minister for natural resources, said that the loss of sharks disrupts the predator-prey balance, compromising the health of oceans and reefs and the survival of other marine creatures.

"The best way to manage their populations is to let them fulfill their ecological role as apex predators," Pickering said at a conference in Belgium.”

The islands are a British overseas territory and comprise around 60 tropical Caribbean islands that are located in the Virgin Islands archipelago.

Business tycoon Richard Branson, who owns one of the islands ,Necker, welcomed the news and tweeted “British Virgin Islands establish permanent #shark & ray sanctuary. Big step forward for conservation.” 

To read all about the great white shark and its threats, behavour, diet and favoured habitats click HERE 

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/BVI-shark-sanctuary.html

New Caledonia creates a huge shark sanctuary

Pew Trust congratulates New Caledonia for creating a shark sanctuary

April 2013. New Caledonia has created a vast 1,245,000 square kilometres (480,000 square miles) shark sanctuary giving comprehensive and permanent shark protection in an area roughly the size of South Africa. The ocean around New Caledonia is still considered healthy and intact, and home to spectacular marine life, including approximately 50 species of sharks.

Several shark sanctuaries have been launched recently

Josh Reichert, executive vice president of The Pew Charitable Trusts said "We applaud New Caledonia's decision to create a shark sanctuary by banning fishing for all shark species in the country's entire exclusive economic zone . In the past few months alone, French Polynesia, the Cook Islands, American Samoa, and the Micronesian state of Kosrae have ended shark fishing in their waters.

CITES

"In March 2013, 177 countries voted to protect oceanic white tip sharks, porbeagle sharks and three types of hammerhead sharks at the meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Though great progress is being made, sharks are still threatened throughout much of the world's oceans. The finding of a recent scientific study that approximately 100 million sharks are killed each year in commercial fisheries represents an urgent call to governments around the world to take action before it's too late. Scientists warn that the rate of fishing for sharks, many of which grow slowly and reproduce late in life, is unsustainable and could lead to the extinction of many species. 

"The role of sharks is critical to the health of marine systems. One third of shark species are currently threatened or near threatened with extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. There is an immediate need to protect them before they slip below levels from which they may never recover. It's now up to countries to build on this recent success and ensure a promising future for sharks." 

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/new-caledonia-sharks.html

Cook Islands create vast sanctuary for Sharks

Protected area in the South Pacific equals the size of Mexico

December 2012. The Cook Islands has banned the possession, sale, and trade of shark products and end commercial shark fishing in more than 1.9 million square kilometres (756,000 square miles) of ocean. The Cook Islands declaration follows the recent announcement by neighbouring French Polynesia, creating the world's largest contiguous shark sanctuary of more than 6.7 million square kilometres (2.6 million square miles). The Pew Environment Group applauds the Cook Islands for this decision.

"This is hopeful news for the world's sharks and our efforts to protect them," said Jill Hepp, director of shark conservation for the Pew Environment Group. "We are thrilled to see the Cook Islands become part of this global movement during a time when so many shark populations are threatened."

"We are proud, as Cook Islanders, to provide our entire exclusive economic zone (EEZ), an area of 1.9 million square kilometres as a shark sanctuary," said the Honorable Teina Bishop, Cook Islands Minister of Marine Resources when he made the announcement. "Together with our Polynesian neighbour, Tahiti Nui (French Polynesia), we have created the largest shark sanctuary in the World. We join our Pacific neighbours to protect this animal, which is very vital to the health of our oceans, and our culture."

Size of Mexico
The sanctuary, encompassing an area the size of Mexico, is the result of a partnership between the Pew Environment Group and the Pacific Islands Conservation Initiative and the support of many local community and political leaders. Hundreds of signatures were collected on a local petition, and students submitted letters and drawings bearing the message "Akono Te Mango (Protect Our Sharks)."

"We're very proud to stand together today in celebration for sharks and for the community," said Stephen Lyon, director of the Pacific Islands Conservation Initiative. "It further establishes the Cook Islands, which has already declared both a whale sanctuary and a marine park, as a world leader in marine protection."

Read on:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/cook-islands-sharks.html

Cook Islands' shark sanctuary creates world's largest

As shark numbers fall, other species further down the food chain are put at risk

The Cook Islands has approved a shark sanctuary in its waters, making for the largest such sanctuary in the world.

The South Pacific island chain declared a 1.9 million-sq-km sanctuary, contiguous with one established last week by neighbouring French Polynesia.

That sees a ban on shark fishing and possession or sale of shark products in an area now totalling 6.7 million sq km - nearly the size of Australia.

As top predators, overfishing of sharks disrupts complex oceanic food webs.

And about a third of ocean-going sharks appear on the internationally-recognised Red List of Threatened Species.

"We are proud as Cook Islanders to provide our entire exclusive economic zone... as a shark sanctuary," said Teina Bishop, Cook Islands minister of marine resources.

"We join our Pacific neighbours to protect this animal, which is very vital to the health of our oceans, and our culture."

Other island nations with sanctuaries also include Palau, the Maldives, Tokelau, Honduras and the Bahamas.

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20709853

Venezuela Bans Shark Finning, Establishes Shark Sanctuary

Some much-needed good news for sharks has come from Venezuela this week: The South American country announced it is banning shark finning in its waters and has established a new shark sanctuary.

The country became the last in the Americas to outlaw the practice of cutting off the fins of live sharks and tossing the animals back into the ocean to slowly die.  

The country also has created a sanctuary where several important shark species breed, outlawing commercial shark fishing there. The sanctuary consists of 1,440 square miles (3,730 square kilometers) of the Caribbean Sea surrounding the Los Roques Archipelago, a popular tourist destination with pristine beaches and coral reefs, according to a statement from the Pew Environment group.

Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/21118-venezuela-bans-shark-finning.html

Vast shark sanctuary created in Pacific

The Marshall Islands government has created the world's largest shark sanctuary, covering nearly two million sq km (750,000 sq miles) of ocean.

The Pacific republic will ban trade in shark products and commercial shark fishing throughout its waters.

Tourism, including diving, is a staple of the Marshall Islands archipelago, which is home to just 68,000 people.

Sharks and their near relatives such as rays are seriously threatened by issues such as habitat loss and fishing.

About a third of ocean-going sharks are on the internationally-recognised Red List of Threatened Species.

"In passing this [shark protection] bill, there is no greater statement we can make about the importance of sharks to our culture, environment and economy," said Senator Tony deBrum, who co-sponsored the bill through the Marshallese parliament.

"Ours may be a small island nation, but our waters are now the biggest place sharks are protected."

To put the sanctuary in context, it covers roughly the same area as Indonesia, Mexico or Saudi Arabia, and is about eight times bigger than the UK.

The move will extend the area of ocean in which sharks are protected from about 2.7 million sq km to 4.6 million sq km (1.0 to 1.8 million sq miles).

By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News
Read on...

Shark sanctuary declared in eastern Indonesia

JAKARTA — Indonesia has declared a vast sanctuary for sharks, turtles and manta rays in a region known as one of the world's richest sources of marine biodiversity, officials and conservationists said Tuesday.


The sanctuary covers 46,000 square kilometres (17,760 square miles) of waters around the Raja Ampat islands in eastern Indonesia, part of the so-called Coral Triangle region of Southeast Asia.

Sharks, manta rays, mobulas, dugongs and turtles are fully protected within the sanctuary, and destructive practices including reef bombing and the aquarium fish trade are banned, local officials said.

"Sharks, as apex predators, play a vital role in regulating the health of important commercial fish species, population balance, and coral reefs," conservation group Shark Savers and the Misool Eco Resort, which are supporting the sanctuary, said in a statement.

"Despite this importance, up to 73 million sharks are killed annually with some shark populations declining by as much as 90 percent, mostly for shark fin soup.

"In Raja Ampat, three fourths of its shark species are threatened with local extinction."

Peter Knights, executive director of US-based conservation group WildAid which is backing the project, said: "It?s tragic that so much of Raja Ampat?s biological treasure is destined for consumers who are unaware of the impact.

"Sharks are being killed for their fins, mantas are being killed for their gills, and rare reef fish are being caught for aquariums," he said.

Raja Ampat marine and fishery office head Yohanis Bercmans Rahawaryn could not provide figures on shark numbers in the area, but said their numbers had "dropped steadily in the past few years".

"Divers rarely find big sharks around Raja Ampat. That's the main indicator," he said.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ien0iGs35IASdRlJuBZjCJfm80Yg?docId=CNG.d2b96042d79e62832e6348438c194968.21