Removal of shark fins

KEY POINTS

Scope

The regulation applies to:

• all fishing vessels operating in EU waters;
• EU vessels operating outside those maritime waters falling within the sovereignty of the EU countries.

It prohibits:

• the removal of shark fins¹ on board vessels and their retention on board, transshipment² or landing;
• the purchase or sale of shark fins which have been removed on board, retained on board, transshipped or landed in contravention of the regulation.

This prohibition applies to fish belonging to the taxon Elasmobranchii (which includes sharks, skates, rays and similar species), except for the removal of ray wings.

Conditions

To facilitate on-board storage, fins may be partially sliced through and folded against the carcass, but must not be removed from the carcass before landing.

Reporting

Under this regulation, the country under whose flag the vessel is fishing, in accordance with the EU fisheries control system, must send the European Commission an annual report on the compliance with the regulation including:

• the number of landings of sharks;
• the number, date and place of the inspections that have been carried out;
• the number and nature of cases of non-compliance detected, including a full identification of the vessel(s) involved and the penalty applied for each case of non-compliance; and
• the total landings by species (weight/number) and by port.

In 2016, the Commission published a report on the operation of the regulation following its amendment in 2013, and on the international developments in this field.