UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) on Thursday said that a handy new digital
technique called iSharkFin could help protect endangered shark
species and combat illegal trade in shark fins.
"The new software allows for the quick identification of species
of the iconic fish," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily
news briefing here. "It is a tool for custom officers and
inspectors at fish markets as well as for fishermen keen on
avoiding the capture of protected species."
Work on the project began in 2013, after five shark species were
added to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the spokesman said.
The software, called iSharkFin, allows people without formal
taxonomic training to identify different species of shark by
uploading photographs. The user then chooses several key points of
the fin shape along with identifying a few other characteristics,
and an algorithm compares the information with iSharkFin's memory
bank and identifies the shark species.
Many of those species are the ones most frequently traded
internationally and use of the software may allow authorities to
crack a long-running mystery over the actual magnitude of global
shark fishing.
Currently, estimates of the number of sharks killed each year
vary enormously, with one study suggesting the annual figure could
be above 73 million, or more than 6 percent of the total stock. If
true, that would exceed the rate considered sustainable, as sharks
take a long time to mature and produce few offspring. The number
would also be four times higher than the FAO's estimates, which are
based on official production statistics.
The gap in estimates is often blamed on "shark finning," a
practice involving slashing off a shark's fins and dumping the
animal back into the sea. Many nations have declared shark finning
illegal and insist that shark fins may be traded only if the whole
carcass is brought to shore.
The challenges of effective management in high seas areas,
including responsible fishing and conservation of species at risk,
are being discussed this week at a high-level workshop at FAO.
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