CANADA TAKES THE LEAD ON MAKO SHARK CONSERVATION

The announcement from Fisheries and Oceans Canada was short and to the point.

“I am writing to inform Atlantic Large Pelagics Advisory Committee (ALPAC) members of a decision that the Department has taken with respect to North Atlantic Shortfin mako sharks.

“In fisheries that have interactions with North Atlantic Shortfin mako, the Department will to prohibit [sic] any retention (dead or alive) going forward.  This will be reflected in license conditions for large pelagic fisheries beginning in the 2020/2021 season.

“This decision has been informed by views of ALPAC members as well as the most recent science available for this species.

“Should you have any questions related to this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me.”

It was signed by David Whorley, Chair, ALPAC.

With that announcement, Canada took the lead in mako shark conservation. 

It was an important decision.  In 2018, Canada was the fifth-largest harvester of shortfin mako sharks, trailing only the European Union, Morocco, the United States and Senegal.  While Canada’s landings don’t come anywhere close to those of the European Union, which is responsible for about 60 percent of all shortfin mako harvest in the North Atlantic, it is still one of the largest players in the fishery and has recently emerged as a leader in mako shark conservation.

Canada’s support for shortfin mako conservation is a relatively new, but much welcomed.  Last August, Canada opposed an effort to list makos on Appendix II to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora—better known as CITES—although such listing merely requires that trade in shortfin makos be properly documented.  It set no limits on landings.  Eventually, the CITES proposal was adopted with strong international support.

But only months after it opposed the CITES listing, Canada changed its position on shortfin mako conservation.  At the 2019 meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, Canada co-sponsored a proposal originally introduced by Senegal, which would have prohibited all landings of shortfin makos.  In the end, that proposal was co-sponsored by eight other nations as well, and supported by another six during floor discussions.

Unfortunately, neither the European Union nor the United States were among the supporters, and the proposal was defeated in favor of one that offered some limited protections for shortfin makos, but still permitted substantial harvest.  

The U.S. originally argued for 700 metric tons of annual landings, largely composed of fish that were dead when brought to the boat, which was the most liberal landings  measure put forward by any ICCAT member.

It’s disappointing that the United States has failed to join its northern neighbor in support of shortfin mako conservation.

Last May, a team of scientists presented ICCAT with an updated stock assessment for shortfin makos, which noted that three different stock assessment models

“projected that spawning stock fecundity, defined as the number of pups produced each year, will continue to decline until approximately 2035 even with no fishing, because the cohorts that have been depleted in the past will age into the mature population over the next few decades (the median age at maturity is 21 years).”

Furthermore, that assessment stated that

“For runs 1 and 2, a [total allowable catch] of between 800-900 [metric tons], including dead discards, resulted in a >50% probability of…the joint probability of [a fishing mortality rate that is below the rate that results in maximum sustainable yield] and [spawning stock fecundity that is above the fecundity level necessary for the shortfin mako stock to produce maximum sustainable yield] by 2070.  Run 3, which assumed a low productivity stock-recruitment relationship, showed that only [a total allowable catch] between 0 and 100 [metric tons] (including dead discards) resulted in a >50% probability of [achieving that desired result] by 2070.  [emphasis added]”

That means that the harvest level proposed by the United States at last year’s ICCAT meeting would have, at best, created a 50 percent likelihood that the shortfin mako stock could be fully rebuilt fifty years from now, while at worst, it authorized a landings rate at least seven times the rate that would allow the stock to be rebuilt in that time.  

But in the end, that was all academic.  Because of the U.S. and European Union opposition to the science-based management measures proposed by Senegal, Canada and fourteen other nations, in the end, ICCAT didn’t adopt any landings limit at all.

So it’s pretty clear that the U.S. has ceded the conservation high ground on shortfin mako management, and it’s nice to see Canada step up to accept the mantle of leadership that the United States has declined.

Canada’s action has received praise from the conservation community.  A spokesperson for the Nova Scotia-based Ecology Action Centre said

“We applaud the Canadian government for stepping up to protect one of the Atlantic’s most threatened sharks, the shortfin mako.  Yesterday’s action represents a milestone in Canada’s remarkable emergence as a leader in global shark conservation, and one of the most significant steps to date in an urgent effort to save this exceptionally imperiled mako population.”

Sonja Fordham, President of Shark Advocates International, noted that

“Although similar action is needed by other countries to save the highly migratory mako shark, Canada’s new ban is a pivotal development for this valuable, vulnerable species.  We urge other North Atlantic fishing nations to follow Canada’s lead to protect this shared population, as scientists advise.”

ICCAT agreed to hold an intersessional meeting this year to further address the shortfin mako issue, which will hopefully result in recommendations that can be addressed when ICCAT holds its regular meeting this fall.  Provided that COVID-19 allows both meetings to proceed, we can only hope that the United States will finally drop its opposition to shortfin mako conservation, and join Canada and the other responsible states in taking whatever action is needed to rebuild the mako stock.

Already, U.S. recreational fishermen are acting on their own to reduce pressure on shortfin makos.  Late last season, the Greater Point Pleasant [NJ] Charter Boat Association announced that it would be cancelling its well known Mako Mania Tournament, and replacing it with an event targeting tuna instead.  The Association said that in order that the

“mako shark be given a chance to make a comeback we have voluntarily placed a moratorium on Mako Mania.”

In New York, the Bay Shore Tuna Club announced early this year that the Bay Shore Mako Tournament, which has been held every year since the early 1960s, has also been cancelled.

We can only hope that the United States delegation will follow the example of such anglers, and start taking action that might provide the shortfin mako with a brighter future.  

If nations such as Japan, China and Taiwan, none of which have a stellar track record of marine conservation issues, can support an end to mako landings, it’s very difficult to understand why the U.S. won’t do so, too.