June 9, 2014 — Shark conservationists are tracing DNA to save endangered species and encouraging the establishment of sanctuaries for the predatory fish, according to scientists with The Pew Charitable Trusts.
With shark fins shipped to Asia mainly going through Hong Kong, customs officials need to understand which sharks are listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, Imogen Zethoven, director of Washington-based Pew’s global shark conservation campaign, said by phone last week from a conference in Durban on South Africa’s south eastern coast.
“The most accurate way of being able to identify a shark is through DNA,” she said.
Members of the convention last year agreed on five species of sharks, including hammerhead varieties and the porbeagle, that will have to be traded with CITES permits with evidence that they have been harvested sustainably and legally. Hammerheads can grow to as long as 20 feet (6 meters) and weigh as much as 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms) while porbeagles can reach 12-feet in length.