7 more species of sharks, rays "threatened"

BEIJING, May 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Seven species of sharks and rays have been added to the global list of threatened species, and six more species of shark are under enough pressure to make the "red list" of threatened species.

The World Conservation Union, which maintains the list, announced the results at a conference of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn, Germany. Four of the six species on the red listwill be denoted as "vulnerable."

The pelagic stingray was also added following the research into the status of 21 species of sharks and rays.

Sonja Fordham, co-author of the study and a director of the Shark Alliance, a Belgium-based advocacy group, said the sharks studied were chosen because they were most often harvested by fishermen on the high seas.

"Fishermen who usually go after other species are targeting sharks, looking to develop new markets," she told The Associated Press.

While some governments have recently introduced fishing regulations for sharks, there are no catch limits for sharks in international waters, she said. That lets fishermen exploit shark populations at a moment when they are increasingly valuable.

Demand for shark fin soup is growing in China, and Europeans have developed a taste for shark meat, the report found, noting that the thresher and shortfin mako shark species were among those targeted because of demand for their meat.

Sharks and rays are particularly vulnerable to overfishing because most take many years to become sexually mature and have relatively few offspring.