Canary Islands: YES to a sharks and rays sanctuary, NO to a business sanctuary.

Canary Islands: YES to a sharks and rays sanctuary, NO to a business sanctuary.

More than 20 complaints against south of the islands based companies that promote and practice illegal fishing of sharks and rays.
The Canary Islands sharks and rays sanctuary, 50,000 signatures and honest work endorse ATIRICAN initiative against companies that make profits from illegal sharks and rays fishing and its supporters. A big effort of 3 years on social networks and the streets has left a balance of more than 50,000 signatures to establish Canary Islands as an elasmobranch fishes sanctuary. The signatures were presented to the former Canary government president, Paulino Rivero. More than 20 complaints against south of the islands based companies that promote and practice illegal fishing of sharks and rays presented to SEPRONA, Fishing Deputy Ministry and Canaries common representative. More than 12,000 signatures to stop Universidad de las Palmas de Gran Canaria and illegal fishing companies collaboration that has left to the edition of a “good practices” poster, in which they give after catch on board maintenance and photographic tips to cause less damage to captured angel sharks. On a coherent position before this guide and agreements were made, ATIRICAN had a meeting with the Angel Shark Project managers, among them, Ricardo Haroun, ULPGC researcher. In that meeting we explain our work and no intentions of collaborate with a project that is related with companies that practice illegal fishing and are denounced by us. In our opinion, this gives those companies social credibility and trust and make the project managers accomplice of its illegal fishing activities, prohibited by European regulations and Spanish ministerial orders. We feel that in some point they will give quality certifications to those companies that we denounce, and all seems that this has arrived.

A workshop… a store
On this dates an Angel shark conservation workshop it’s been hold at the Parque Cientifico Tecnologico Marino de Taliarte and welcomes the ULPGC principal, Jose Regidor, ULPGC ultimately responsible for research projects and public relations. The same that endorse and supports the ULPGC collaboration with companies that, against European and Spanish regulations, capture, keep on board and take pictures as souvenirs of angel sharks, a critically endangered species threatened with extinction.
The lack of interest from local, national and international organizations that participates on the workshop to the ATIRACAN Canary Islands sharks and rays sanctuary proposal is not a surprise. Perhaps, this must be because they know we don’t sell ourselves, non for getting funds or to make pseudoscientific studies, for profits or personal benefits.

From ATIRACAN, we denounce this meeting where they try to underestimate our work and participant organizations and institutions, that claim to defend the angel shark and then serve to endorse Canary Islands companies threatening the species.