Question Period Note: Scientific Report on Declines in World’s Shark Populations

• The Government is committed to the conservation of marine biodiversity and continues to work to ensure sustainable, science-based management of fish stocks in Canada, including sharks and rays.
• Canada has already taken action to reduce the impacts of fishing on vulnerable shark populations.
• We will continue to work with partners to ensure strong management and conservation of sharks worldwide and to prevent unacceptable practices, such as shark finning.

1. On January 27, 2021, the scientific journal Nature published a scientific paper entitled ‘Half a century of global decline in oceanic sharks and rays’. The internationally recognized journal publishes peer-reviewed research from a variety of academic disciplines, specifically including the natural sciences.
2. The paper found that since 1970, the global abundance of marine sharks and rays has declined by 71%, associated with an 18x increase in fishing pressure. This depletion of sharks and rays was noted to pose a risk to their extinction. The authors urge strict prohibitions and precautionary science-based catch limits to prevent this population collapse, and to promote species recovery.
3. There are no directed fisheries for sharks (and rays) in Canada. In Canada, harvesting of sharks in Pacific waters is prohibited. The retention of some sharks is licensed in some fisheries as bycatch in Atlantic waters.
4. Finning has been prohibited in Canada since 1994. The Fisheries Act specifically bans the import and export of shark fins. This legislation specifically prohibits harvesting of sharks for just this fins, which is recognized as a global problem.
5. Canada has also been working to reduce the harvesting of Shortfin Mako sharks along the Atlantic coast. In line with international recommendations, Canada no longer allows Shortfin Mako sharks to be landed and all captured animals must be released. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) has assessed numerous shark species as at some level of risk.
6. Canada actively participates in international organizations such as the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), working to reduce impacts of fisheries on sharks and rays.
7. Internationally, Canada was one of the first countries to develop a National Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks. This Plan of Action is in line with the International Plan of Action for Conservation and Management of Sharks developed by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
8. Canada also supports the conservation and management of sharks through the implementation of the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) for all listed sharks.

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