Saving Sharks in Arabia: conference to look at regulating commercial shark fishing

A step in the right direction for shark conservation might be on the horizon in Dubai. A conference will be held this coming week to discuss regulations regarding commercial fishing for several species of hammerhead sharks.  Organized by the UAE Ministry of Environment and Water and Sharkquest of Arabia, the four-day Shark Conservation in Arabia will include government officials and scientists.  

The goal is to determine whether shark fishing, particularly involving the great, smooth and scalloped hammerhead sharks, should be regulated or even banned altogether if the scientific evidence provided by the participants dictates it.  There lies part of the challenge as scientific evidence regarding the populations of these sharks in Arabian waters is a bit on the slim side.

With examples like the reduction in hammerhead populations in and around Mexico and in the Mediterranean, where the loss of hammerheads is estimated at as much as 99.99%, it would seem logic would dictate that Arabia's hammerhead sharks are likely not different from other populations in terms of their slow reproductive rates.  And so, even if the population was robust, at current demand levels for shark fins the Arabian population would evaporate rather quickly if commercial shark fishing went unabated.

It is the hope of local shark conservationists that strong regulations will be proposed and agreed to at the conference.  Such regulations would then be formally proposed at the March meeting of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species).  This is necessary as the current trade in sharks in the region, both importing and exporting, involves several different countries.  So the end result must be international regulations or bans, and that is the primary role of CITES.

However, strong opposition can be expected as there is a considerable economic incentive at risk here.  Worldwide, the market for shark fins has been estimated at $1.2 billion USD.  And as pressure continues to mount against it - and as the populations of shark species continue to decline - that dollar figure will go up per pound. 

Hammerheads are not the only shark species at risk.  Sonja Fordham, president of Washington, DC-based Shark Advocates International, recently posted a picture on Facebook of thresher sharks lining a dock in Dubai.  While thresher shark meat can be found on the menus of some higher end seafood restaurants, these sharks are most likely bound for the shark fin market as shark meat can spoil quickly when not properly treated and refrigerated.

The UAE is the fifth largest exporter of shark fins and, judging by these few pictures, it's not hard to see how.  That makes this week's Shark Conservation in Arabia conference all the more important.

Source: The National                    

Zebra Shark Survival: could "virgin births" be a sign of nature's resilience?

Nature will find a way.

It's an amazing component of nature's dedication to survival that, when faced with conditions that impede propagation of a species, nature may choose another course other than to watch a population dwindle towards extinction. Parthenogenesis, or virgin birth, is just one such avenue. This is when an animal is able to produce viable offspring without the need for a traditionally fertilized egg, also known as asexual reproduction. No males around to breed with? Well, why wait?

Parthenogenesis is a somewhat rare occurrence, limited to a few reported cases, but one zebra shark that resides in the Burj Al Arab Hotel's aquarium in Dubai, has successfully produced eggs that brought forth healthy juvenile sharks. And she has done it each year for the past four years. The aquarium can verify that the shark has not had any contact with a male in all that time.

Interestingly, the juvenile sharks are all female - but not just clones of the female; their gene structure shows distinct differences. Could this also be another way that nature is trying to improve the odds, by generating more females? Scientists are not sure; the rarity of the event makes it a difficult subject to study.

David Robinson, the aquarium's operations manager, explained how the aquarium staff originally made the discovery, "We were actually moving the eggs and one of the guys felt something move inside the egg. And we checked the eggs with light and there were babies inside. So, it was actually quite, I don't know...we went looking for it, but I don't think we were ever expecting to find it. So we're just awestruck."

Zebra sharks - which get their name because of the striking zebra pattern on the juvenile, which later gives way to a more leopard-like spotted pattern - will continually lay eggs several times throughout the year, fertilized or not. When I was a dive team leader at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA, part of my team's responsibilities was to round up zebra shark eggs strewn about the Tropical Reef exhibit, deposited by either of the two large female zebra sharks in the exhibit.

Stuck to the artificial rocks and corals with mucus-like strands that could probably be bottled and sold as the next super glue - or at least that was what we thought as we would spend considerable effort getting the gunk off of our fingers - the eggs would be collected and set aside for disposal. With Dubai's reproductive zebra shark, named Zebedee, as an inspiration, the aquarists in Long Beach are probably now taking a long look at those eggs that the divers find.

BBC News reported on Zebedee's egg-laying abilities recently and the report includes an interesting video. Click here to view the video.

Nature has many fascinating ways of dealing with the natural or organic challenges it has had to contend with for eons. Evolution can be both an organized progression and an abrupt reaction to environmental changes. Unfortunately, man-made impacts seem to exceed even nature's formidable skills in perseverance and resiliency. But if we give it a break, nature can do wonders.

Sources: i09.com, BBC News.