Blue shark fishery in Vigo: Sustainability and species conservation at risk. Anyone observing the port in Vigo, Galicia (Spain), will see a multitude of Portuguese and Spanish fishing vessels discharging blue shark, swordfish, and tuna almost daily. Wait - blue shark? For the past six months, the blue shark has been listed under the CITES agreement: endangered species listed there may only be traded sustainably. For blue sharks in the Atlantic, this is not the case. Nevertheless, the blue shark continues to be caught, landed, traded, and exported in the EU. Since November 2023, 1,273 tonnes of blue shark with a sales value of almost 2.5 million euros have been landed in Vigo alone. The average price per kilogram is between €1.80 and €2.70 ... standard fish prices that do not in any way reflect the fact that this is an entirely unsustainable fishery. The fleet in Vigo is currently able to reapply for the MSC certification. Back in 2016, the MSC certifier Bureau Veritas approved this without comment, even though sustainability could not be certified even then. A joint effort by several NGOs prevented the certification at that time: the fleet "voluntarily withdrew" its application before the opposition became too strong. According to our information, a new attempt to obtain the label is currently being planned, this time also including the blue shark, which played only a minor role as bycatch in the 2016 certification. We will attempt to prevent this! At the time, ARD broadcast an informative documentary on the subject as "Story im Ersten" - unfortunately, this documentary has lost none of its urgency today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZQlJY5JSbM
