Spain Takes Bold Action to Protect Mako Sharks

Of all the shark fishing countries in the European Union, the fishers of Spain catch the most shortfin mako sharks, Isurus oxyrinchus, accounting for nearly half of all the North Atlantic landings.

On January 28th, at a meeting with executives from CEPESCA (Spain’s fishing boat owners' association), Spain's Environment Minister Teresa Ribera announced a moratorium on mako sharks. It includes a 2021 zero retention of mako sharks by Spanish vessels domestically and in the North Atlantic, including bycatch (which means even if mako sharks are caught accidentally they cannot be retained on the boat and landed in port). The ban also extends to all mako shark fins landed by Spanish vessels in 2020. The 90 tons of mako shark already processed and stored by fishermen will not be marketable. On February 3rd, the government of Portugal announced that it is taking similar measures.

This action has been a long time coming. As recently as August 2019 at the 18th Conference of the Parties at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Geneva, Switzerland, 28 of the 178 nations sponsored protection for longfin and shortfin mako sharks due to their depletion and the species low reproductive rate. The Shark Research Institute presented peer-reviewed data to all the delegates, several non-profit organizations also lobbied for protection for both the longfin and shortfin mako sharks, finally resulting overwhelming support for CITES Appendix II protection for both species. In December 2020, a report from the EU recommended its member states cease all North Atlantic shortfin mako fishing.

We are very grateful for the efforts all the NGOs who worked on this project, and the urgent calls from scientists from Spain and Portugal who lobbied for this moratorium. We salute the bold and positive examples of Spain and Portugal and hope that other countries will follow their lead.