Shark Alliance

The Shark Alliance was a global not-for-profit coalition founded in 2006 by Pew Charitable Trusts of non-governmental organizations dedicated to restoring and conserving shark populations by improving shark conservation policies. The aim was to campaign for an EU Shark Action Plan and to close loopholes in the EU’s ban on shark ‘finning’. The alliance was led by: The European Elasmobranch Association, The Pew Charitable Trusts, Project Aware and Shark Trust. As a result of such efforts, in 2009, the EU adopted a Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks, with improvements in shark fishing management and protection policies. Further, in 2013, European Parliament and Council of Fisheries Ministers agreed to a regulation was agreed that all sharks caught in EU waters or by EU boats globally had to be landed with their fins naturally attached, with no exceptions. With its objectives thus achieved, the project was closed.