She said: "Over the last 10 years, public awareness about the importance of sharks in the marine ecosystem, their vulnerability and the brutal practice of finning has increased so much that nowadays people are more concerned if they spot a shark fin in a shop than in the open sea. The European Union put in place a Shark Finning Ban in 2003. Since then many EU fishermen have indeed changed their practices to abide by this ban."

Ms Damanaki added: "I’m very glad for the overwhelming support that the European Parliament showed last week for the Commission’s proposal to close the loopholes and to ensure that the ban on shark finning is implemented. After public consultation, we have found that the new rules would neither result in significant costs nor result in competitive disadvantage for the industry but it will indeed make easy to ensure quickly, easily and inexpensively that finning does not occur undetected.

"Over the last ten years, public awareness about the importance of sharks in the marine ecosystem, their vulnerability and the brutal practice of finning has increased so much that nowadays people are more concerned if they spot a shark fin in a shop than in the open sea."

But she said it was the current rules, which allow shark fins to be removed on board, that make it impossible to control. The obligation to land sharks with their fins attached, without any derogation, is the only way to ensure quickly, easily and inexpensively that finning does not occur undetected.

"Therefore, I’m very glad for the  overwhelming support the European Parliament has shown for the Commission’s proposal to close the loopholes and to ensure that the ban on shark finning is implemented.

"As with all our proposals, we conducted an extensive public consultation  during which we received more than 5,000 replies, including the views of the industry."

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