Originally seen in Fish’n Canada’s Week in Review
Our final story of the week takes us to saltwater where the endangered Shortfin Mako Shark has been granted full protection from fishing and harvest.
The effort that sparked the ban was led by Canada, the UK, and Senegal at the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)’s annual meeting. This ban on fishing has been pushed by Canadian conservationists since roughly 2017, as the shark’s numbers in the North Atlantic have been reducing drastically and are now classified as an endangered species.
The ban on Mako fishing is set to be put in place for roughly 50 years, with populations expected to rebound back to sustainable, fishable levels by 2070.
For those unfamiliar with the Shortfin Mako Shark, it is thought to be the world’s fastest shark, capable of reaching speeds of 72km. Before the population took a turn, the Mako was common throughout Atlantic Canada and had even historically been spotted in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, though many of these accounts are thought to be mistaken Porbeagle sightings. For more information on the sharks of the St. Lawrence, check out our article below!
This excerpt was taken from Fish’n Canada’s Week in Review, our weekly recap of all things relevant to the Canadian outdoorsman. For more stories like this, check out the full article below and tune back in every Friday to catch up on everything you missed!
