The IUCN/SSC Shark Specialist Group
Shark News 2: October 1994
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Campaign for a Living Coast
Following the success of the first edition of this
new publication, English Nature is pleased to
sponsor the second edition of Shark News. We
wish it continued success and hope that it will
provide a focus for the exchange of information
within the Shark Specialist Group and with
other interested parties.
In 1992 English Nature set out a long-term
conservation programme to achieve effective
solutions to the over-exploitation and lack of
proper care which now threatens our coasts and
estuaries, and many of the species living in the
seas around them. As the 'Campaign for a Living Coast' continues,
issues such as coastal protection and development, sustainable
management of estuaries and the promotion of sensitive marine
areas as a form of conserving important areas for marine wildlife
are being addressed.
Within our work, commercial and recreational fisheries have
been recognised as an area where both like-minded and opposing
views exist in relation to the conservation of
marine wildlife. In order to develop better
understanding of fisheries and their potential
impacts, English Nature has developed policies
on particular areas of concern. One of these
policies advocates a review of priorities for
research, stock assessment and management
protocols for sharks, skates and rays. These
non-quota species are subject to particular
pressure as a result of their slow growth,
time taken to reach maturity and the
production of small numbers of young
which are vulnerable to fishing from birth. Despite these facts,
fisheries for such species lack any form of conservation regulation
in Britain.
If you are able to provide any information that would help in
our work, please contact Paul Knapman, Marine Fisheries Officer,
English Nature, Northminster House, Peterborough,
Cambridgeshire PE1 1UA, UK. Tel. (44) (0) 733 318298.
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