Pétition : demande au premier ministre espagnol de protéger les requins.
This week is European Shark Week! Celebrate sharks and help us convince European Union Member States to adopt strong measures to protect these magnificent creatures from serious threats including overfishing, bycatch and shark finning.
Every year tens of millions of sharks suffer a terrible fate: they are dragged on board ships, their fins brutally hacked from their bodies, and then they are tossed back into the ocean to die a slow and agonizing death -- all to supply the international market for shark fins and shark fin soup. HSI is determined to bring about a global ban on this practice.
One-third of the European shark populations that have been assessed are now considered Threatened by the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Another 20% are at imminent risk of becoming so. Earlier this year the European Commission published its Community Action Plan for Sharks. The key points of the Plan, if adopted as law by EU member States, will make a huge difference to the status of sharks in our waters and beyond.
The world's top 20 shark fishing nations -- which include Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom and France -- are responsible for 80% of the global shark catch.
Of these countries, Spain catches far more sharks than any other Member State and is consistently within the 5 top exporters of shark fin to China and within the top 10 exporters to Hong Kong, the two main markets for shark fin. In addition, Spain has routinely blocked attempts by the European Commission to agree on protective measures for sharks.
Together, we can protect all animals from cruelty.
Sincerely,
Mark Glover
Director
Humane Society International/Europe