Fishing nations at the annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) reached consensus on just one of seven proposals for action on sharks.  By the end of the eight-day meeting today, ICCAT Parties could only agree to report next year on their compliance with existing shark measures.  Proposals to establish ICCAT limits on shortfin mako and porbeagle failed, as did efforts to change existing measures on oceanic whitetip sharks and shark finning (slicing off a shark’s fins and discarding the body at sea).

Are the planet’s oceans doomed to become its waste bin? Marine litter  – plastics, wood, metal, rubber, paper and other debris – from human activity continues to invade and pollute oceans and seas, posing a serious threat to the coastal and marine environment worldwide.