Marine fishery experts have mooted revisiting the list of protected marine elasmobranchs (sharks and rays) in the Wildlife Protection Act (1972). Apart from common conservation measures for both terrestrial and marine organisms in the same Act, sharks and rays must be given special attention for making conservation measures implementable, they said.
The marine experts were speaking at a consultative workshop on threatened and protected sharks and rays organised by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute here, said a press release here.
The meeting also called for periodic assessment of the species protected under the WPA and modification in the listing as almost two decades had passed since the inclusion of 10 species of elasmobranchs in the protected list. Considering the complexity of use and stakeholder interaction in marine waters, a special provision for marine conservation may be brought in, they said.
The CMFRI will take the lead in preparing a white paper on the current status of the protected marine elasmobranchs, the press release added.
