A four-day international meet of experts on shark trade got under way at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute here on Wednesday with a call to address data gap in shark and ray fisheries across the globe.
Experts recognised some progress but also many difficulties in assessing shark trade and maintenance of sustainability of this marine resource owing to shortage of proper data. The meet stressed the need for mapping and understanding of the full value chain of these species to secure sustainability of commercial fishery and markets, which would benefit both the stakeholders and the resources.
The event is jointly organised by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and CMFRI as part of a collaborative research project of the two entities.
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Experts attending the discussions felt the need for well-informed guidelines for collecting and reporting information on use, markets and market chain for shark and ray commodities globally.
Leading the discussion, Kim Friedman, Senior Fishery Resources Officer of the FAO, said that even though many countries are trying hard to collect information on various fishery related activities, there is still severe shortage of data on the full value chain, that included consumption, local and retail sale including exports of these resources.