Fishermen to receive training on identifying sharks

The scheme by the Co-operative, the Shark Trust and the commercial fishing industry aims to improve the recording of species that are caught by fleets, to boost knowledge of individual shark populations.

It is hoped the project will provide data to help manage shark stocks more sustainably, because more than half of British shark species are threatened with extinction.

Globally, up to 73 million sharks are killed each year for their fins, but the number caught by fleets overall is higher as many are caught accidentally by vessels seeking other fish.

The numbers of sharks, skates and rays, which are slow-growing and slow to reproduce, have declined significantly since commercial fishing began, conservationists said.

The scheme, focusing on ports in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Humberside and Cumbria, will train fishermen to identify and record species such as the small-spotted catshark, the starry smoothhound shark and the cuckoo ray.

The fishermen will be supplied with materials such as at-sea identification guides.

Chris Shearlock, sustainable development manager at the Co-operative, said: “We know shark populations in British waters have declined dramatically in recent years but as little importance has traditionally been given to shark stocks compared to more commercial species, detailed information for individual species is hard to ascertain.

“We are providing species identification training with a range of support materials to ensure sharks, which are vital to the health of our fisheries, receive 
the level of protection they
 need.”

Ali Hood, director of conservation at the Shark Trust, said there was a rich diversity of shark, skate and ray species in the North and Irish Seas, many of which had experienced significant population declines in recent decades.

She said the project would help the trust work with the industry towards a sustainable future for shark fisheries.