A BOOM in shark fishing is threatening the ecological balance of the oceans, say experts meeting in Rome this week.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says the world's catch of sharks and their relatives, skates and rays, jumped from about 617 000 tonnes a year in 1985 to more than 730 000 tonnes in 1994. And for every shark caught deliberately, at least two more are killed by accident, mainly by shrimp and tuna vessels.
The FAO predicts that the catch will grow further. As traditional fisheries are depleted, fishermen will switch to sharks, while economic growth in China will boost the price of shark fins used to make soup.
No one knows what impact this will have on marine ecosystems, as shark fisheries are largely unstudied and unregulated. A report released last week by the Center for Marine Conservation in Washington DC, and TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade ...
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