European sharks 'in danger and not dangerous,' warns marine expert

euronews (in English)

Ocean speaks to renowned marine journalist and author, Eleonora de Sabata, about how the LIFE European Sharks project is trying to conserve Europe's endangered sharks.

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:03 I have been studying sharks for many, many, many years.

00:09 For the past 35 years, I've been writing about the sea.

00:13 And now I am working on a project

00:16 called European Sharks, which is an international effort

00:20 to safeguard Mediterranean sharks and rays.

00:22 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:29 We will start a movement of people

00:32 that do something concretely about sharks and rays.

00:35 And for instance, we will ask professional fishermen

00:37 to release the baby shark of commercial species

00:40 so they can grow and reproduce.

00:42 We will ask recreational fishers to release all sharks and rays

00:46 with good handling practices so that when they are released,

00:49 they can actually survive.

00:51 Divers will be involved to tell us

00:53 where they see sharks and rays so that we can identify

00:56 this area and protect them.

00:59 Cooks, for instance, we will ask them in places

01:02 where it is traditional to have, for example,

01:05 soups that have sharks.

01:07 So we'll ask them to update their recipes

01:09 and tell all the customers about them.

01:12 In general, we will try to make people

01:16 understand that sharks are in danger and not dangerous.

01:20 And the most important action will also

01:22 be trying to increase the enforcement of laws

01:26 that we have to protect some species.

01:29 So hopefully, maybe in 10 years' time, in 15 years' time,

01:33 if we act now, we can start building the population back.

01:37 It takes a while, though.

01:39 Thank you very much.

01:41 [MUSIC PLAYING]

01:44 (upbeat music)

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