The UAE authorities have expressed concern about the reduction in the number of sharks and rays in their coastal waters.
The UAE authorities are extremely concerned about the sharp decline in the population of sharks and rays in the country's waters. As a measure to combat the decline in shark populations in the waters of the bay, the United Arab Emirates adopted a regulation restricting the capture of 43 species of sharks and 29 species of stingrays.
According to representatives of the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Protection, the shark population has been declining for many years due to overfishing. The new protection plan aims to protect individuals over the next four years.
"In recent years, the population of sharks in the country has been falling sharply. This is caused by overfishing, since shark meat, their fins and gill plates can be expensive to sell," the ministry said.
"At present, 43 species of sharks and 29 species of stingrays are registered in the UAE waters, of which 42 percent are endangered and are included in the Red Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)."
In the UAE, it is illegal to catch sharks, cut off their fins and release the living back into the water, however, if the fishermen have a license, they are allowed to fish entirely for the purpose of further sale in the country.
In 2011, the UAE authorities banned the shark fin cutting, according to statistics, in recent years, about 2,000 metric tons of sharks have been annually caught in the UAE, of which only 60 metric tons are fins.
In February 2014, seven Arab countries, including the UAE, signed an international agreement in Dubai to protect migratory sharks in the Middle East to stop illegal trade.
Meanwhile, on Monday, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Protection launched the “National Shark Conservation Plan 2018-2021.” This plan contains specific steps to control the abundance of these fish in the UAE.
