The Shark Alliance has denounced the overfishing of sharks for their fins by Spanish ships. 60,000 tons were docked in Spanish ports last year.
“A new TNS Demoscopia poll, commissioned by the Shark Alliance, has revealed that people in Spain are unwittingly eating shark meat. Although 96% of those polled said that they did not eat shark, 76.4% were not aware that “cazón” and “marrajo” are sharks and nearly 33% said that they consumed these products.  The results were released in conjunction with a new report from SUBMON, titled Spain: A driving force in shark fishing around the world, that documents serious fishery problems including mislabelling sharks at market.”

Read Spanish unwittingly eat shark (Shark Alliance)

For more than a decade, Spain has been one of the top five world powers with respect to the fishing and marketing of sharks.  Spain’s fishing fleets, employing various gears,  span the globe, taking sharks as targeted and incidental catch.  Approximately 50% of the EU catch of “sharks” (all cartilaginous fishes: sharks, rays and chimaeras) is taken by Spain.

I liked this photo report of the fishing industry in Vigo by Ian Berry of Magnum Photos. The above image “ Gulls follow the trawler in the hope of picking up any fish left uncovered. 2008″
All photos here

Anyone know what this fishing method is called? Taken by Rafiki on the River Guadaira south of Sevilla. Answers please by email or join the forum.
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