Our selection of top shark stories, highlighting the latest news and discoveries from around the world...

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Data from Welsh fishers help unlock secrets of the UK’s rarest shark

5th July

A new approach to collecting data on the Critically Endangered and elusive Angelshark around the Welsh coast has proven successful.
Crucial data, published in a paper today, were primarily sourced by commercial, recreational and charter fishers across Wales and the Irish Sea in an approach co-designed by the fishing community and Angel Shark Project: Wales - a project led by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and ZSL (Zoological Society of London).

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The UK champions sharks with its latest action on the shark fin trade

21st July

Last Friday, MP Christina Rees presented the ‘Shark Fins Bill’ to the House of Commons for the second time.  The Bill is testament to the UK Government’s ongoing commitment to upholding existing bans on shark finning and the removal of shark fins at sea. While not banning the consumption of fins, the Bill proposes to prevent detached shark fins - which could be from finned sharks - from entering or leaving the UK.

The UK fleet, and other vessels fishing in UK waters, are already governed by a fins naturally attached policy. The Shark Fins Bill would further enshrine this into UK law, while supporting full use of sharks landed from managed fisheries. 

The Bill now progresses to the next phase of action: the committee phase. Given the support voiced by multiple political parties, it is hoped it will progress through the House of Commons and the Lords with no objections.

The Shark Trust very much welcomes the introduction of this Bill which represents the culmination of years of advocacy pressure from multiple organisations and members of the public.  We applaud Christina Rees for taking up the challenge to champion the Bill. 

Watch this space for updates over the coming months!

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How 'Shark Week' could inspire love for ocean predators

21st July

According to a new study from North Carolina State University, positive videos of sharks could help change people's attitudes in the predators' favor.

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Tiger sharks return to nurseries, new study finds

28th July

As conservationists learn better ways to preserve and protect marine life, new Florida Tech research investigating the movement patterns of tiger sharks may help safeguard the near-threatened species.

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A New Caribbean Shark? 

29th July

Devanshi Kasana and her colleagues were puzzled when they discovered it: a large shark typically thought to live in the freezing Arctic in the middle of a coral reef in Belize. It was the first time a Greenland shark, had been found in the waters of the Western Caribbean.