Experts: Spanish Fishing Devastates Sharks

[NVMojo]

DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - Spanish fishermen are devastating stocks of deep-water sharks in the northeast Atlantic, using wasteful and unregulated methods that leave more than half of their catch to rot, according to an investigation by Irish, Norwegian and British marine experts.

In two reports produced this year they found that the trawlers frequently leave nets unattended for weeks, even months, in hopes of maximizing profits. They estimate that the practice may have wiped out four-fifths of two threatened species: the leafscale gulper shark and the siki shark, also known as the Portuguese dogfish.

"What they're doing is not illegal, and that's the problem," said Dominic Rihan, fishing gear technologist for the Irish Sea Fisheries Board, who helped produce the report.

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