Sharks and rays pass through the Palma fish market every day. However, to prevent certain protected species from being commercialized, three marine biologists with a long history in the Balearic fishing sector are leading a study to detect the presence of these slamobranchs in the fish market. The objective is to detect protected species for sale, something that is not common, but can happen, usually due to ignorance and because of how difficult it is to distinguish each family of sharks and rays.<\/p>\n
The results of the work, financed by Marilles, will allow us to compare if there have been important changes during the last decade. And it is that the latest data on this matter were collected in a similar study carried out in 2009. After this year, more restrictive regulations have been established with the fishing of sharks and rays. Hence the importance of this study, which will determine if there have been significant changes in relation to the presence of these animals in the fish market.<\/p>\n
According to the researchers, sharks and rays have biological traits that make them very vulnerable to overfishing. In fact, 39 of the 73 species present in the Mediterranean are threatened. In the Balearic Islands, of the 58 species mentioned, 28 are threatened and two are considered extinct.<\/p>\n
“Yes. There are certain protected species. First, some of them were protected in marine reserves \u201d, explains Gabriel Morey, director of this study. \u201cThen there is a regulation that protects other species such as pelagics (white, peregrine, mantas, thresher shark, hammerhead …), all of which are present in the Balearic Islands. They cannot be captured, but the rest can. For example, to say the most common and that have commercial and \/ or gastronomic value, deep-sea sharks, small ones. It would be the thighs, the dogfish, the ‘moixin’, etc. \u201d, Morey points out. Also “there is a variety of rays, around a dozen, which are caught and sold in the Balearic Islands.”<\/p>\n\n\t\t