DATELINE :- 14th June 2000
BASKERS LET DOWN
Basking sharks face hazardous future
A proposal by the British Government to impose restrictions on the global trade in basking sharks did not receive the required two-thirds majority at a recent 150-nation meeting for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Nairobi. The basker is used for its fins and oily livers.
Clive James, Director of Britain's Shark Trust, told Diver: "This was a missed opportunity and the fear now has to be that, knowing protection is still likely to be established in the not-too-distant future, traders will now step up their business in basking sharks while they are allowed to. The next couple of years could be a bleak time for this shark."
National legislation protecting the basking shark exists only in the USA and in Europe, the UK (except Northern Ireland), Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle Man and Malta. But a co-ordinated campaign by European shark conservation groups continues to seek EU measures to safeguard the creature.
A new research vehicle, the European Basking Shark Photo-Identification Project, has been set up to amass and analyse photographic records of basking sharks, to shed light on its populations and movements.
Divers are invited to submit any records they may have. Contact Kelvin Boot at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, 01326 373360, www.baskingsharks.co.uk