Development of sustainable fisheries too slow to conserve shark population

In September, a fishery for spiny dogfish in British Columbia, Canada, was certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), making it the world's first MSC shark fishery.

The MSC is an independent non-profit organisation and its assessment programme requires healthy fish stocks, minimal ecosystem impacts, and an effective fisheries management system.

Globally, overfishing is the most significant threat to many shark species, and this fishery is the first to demonstrate through assessment to the MSC's demanding standards, that sharks can be fished sustainably.

While WWF is flattered to be quoted again by Charlie Lim of the Marine Products Association ('Sustainable fishing is what matters', November 30) as supporting the MSC certification, we would like to make our position clear.

WWF believes that the MSC is the only credible eco-label currently available for wild capture fisheries, and supports the MSC certification for the British Columbia spiny dogfish fishery, of which meat and lower-grade fin are products.

However, this is only one small fishery in global terms, and the development of sustainable fisheries for sharks is likely to be far too slow to effectively conserve shark populations in most parts of the world. Other actions will be necessary to conserve sharks.