Sharks in The ' MED '

[scubadog]

Hello to one and all...not to sure where this thread is going, but a couple of days ago I saw the bodies of five small Blue sharks on Ice, in the local supermarket [  ' Mercadona Supermercado ' - Garrucha - Spain ] Heads, tails and of course, the fins were missing...the body of each shark couldn't have been more than 20" - 24" at the most.
Now I've just been reading on Divernet News that the  " UN adopts resolution calling for ban on targeting sharks for their fins "
Quote - " While the resolution is non-binding and cannot be legally enforced, it is viewed as a significant step for two reasons: it was voted for by China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, the major consumers of shark fins; and it represents a global awareness of the plight of sharks and the need to adopt sustainable fishing policies ".
Quote - " Spain is one of the major suppliers of shark fins to the world market. The recent efforts of conservation groups to get meaningful EU legislation on shark-finning passed were largely sabotaged by Spain ".
Which would be easier ? Trying to convince China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan to stop eating the fins....or trying to stop countries like Spain from catching the Shark?
Perhaps the UN should, " adopt a shark " instead of a resolution.....

[frogkick]

If your question is about sharks in the med, then yes there are plenty and a thriving colony of white sharks in the Northwestern med. The whites stay deep as they follow the migration of whales across the Norther med. A lot of shark species are found in the med and if you do a search on the web there are several research institutes devoted to the subject. The only sharks I have seen alive in the med were small 80-100cm specimens, although there are several pictures of recent catches of 2-3m sharks around Sicily, sardinia, the west coast of corsica and the gulf of Genoa.

[BJ]

There are viable populations of sharks of various types still living in the Med including GWS. However it is a very deep sea and they tend to stay well away from the coast.
I recently had a tenant that was Maltese. He was in his early twenties but he had a collection of photographs he had taken of GWS landings, by fishemen, in Malta. They all looked quite sizeable.
I am reliably told that in the ’80s there was the case of holiday makers trying to save a stranded whale at Torremelinos. Their efforts to get it back out in deep water came to an end when the Guardia Civil turned up with a flat-top truck and a hi-ab. They had a well-prcatised plan. They took it off and when its remains were discovered later by Ian Ferguson, the guy who runs the Mediterranean Shark file, it was...a GWS.