15.6.2012   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 169/137

—

having regard to Rule 123 of its Rules of Procedure,

A.

whereas ‘finning’ is the wasteful practice of slicing off a shark’s fins and discarding the carcass at sea, and is driven by high demand for the delicacy shark fin soup,

B.

whereas finning is contributing to extreme declines in slow-growing shark populations,

C.

whereas one-third of European shark species are threatened with extinction,

D.

whereas the EU finning ban is the world’s weakest with exemptions to land fins and carcasses separately, and an excessive fin-to-carcass weight ratio,

E.

whereas the Commission is considering a range of options for amending the finning ban (Regulation (EC) No 1185/2003),

F.

whereas Parliament asked the Commission to close finning ban loopholes in 2006,

G.

whereas most scientists and the IUCN recommend that sharks be landed with fins naturally attached,

H.

whereas Costa Rica has championed at the United Nations the ‘fins naturally attached’ method, which is being used in many Central and North American fisheries,

1.

Calls on the Commission to deliver a proposal to prohibit the removal of shark fins on-board vessels by the second anniversary of the Community Plan of Action for Sharks (February 2011);

2.

Instructs its President to forward this declaration, together with the names of the signatories (1), to the Commission.