ROMA. So precious are shark fins in some countries are often torn from the animal body without being able to identify later, a problem that aims to address a new digital tool.
The iSharkfin program, developed by the Organization of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in collaboration with the Spanish University of Vigo, can recognize shark species especially those most threatened by illegal fishing, from the photograph of their fins.
“It’s very complex identification when downloading (goods) in ports,” the Spanish Castor Guisande , an expert from the Department of Ecology and Animal Biology at the university who participated in the project.
Until coastlines around the world flock ships with tons of fins, considered a delicacy in Asian cuisine, while the bodies of the dead and mutilated sharks are thrown to the sea, a practice that some countries like the European Union have banned by forcing the flap remains attached to the fish.
The new tool, Guisande explains, allows the computer to download an image of the fin, making it four reference points to define your shape and pressing a button, get the name of the species in seconds.
For now iSharkfin is able to identify at least 35 species of sharks, but the goal is to expand the database and develop an application for the Android system in the coming months.
Guisande stresses that There are 1,136 types of sharks and rays, although researchers have focused on collecting information from the endangered species of commercial interest, which are reduced to little more than a hundred, while there are other very rare and difficult to found.
“The overexploitation (of fish resources) has a clear impact on these species, which reproduce very slowly and have poor recovery,” he adds, referring to the sharks.
These large predators occupy a very high level of the food chain in the ocean and feed on the most abundant species, helping to balance populations of different types. Another value give the shark those diners who continue in their flippers luxury dish with which to impress on the table.
Whether for flavor or aphrodisiac and therapeutic properties that are attributed, a kilo of the fin can be worth up to thirty times more than one of the very flesh of the shark, according Guisande.
Given this tradition, the Chinese government is trying to avoid eating shark fin at banquets officers and, according to some studies, sales of that product have fallen recently in the country.
Monica Barone , who heads the FAO team responsible for developing the new software, shows his confidence that the tool improves the statistics on exports and imports of the fish world.
Inspectors at ports and environmental managers can now launch the identification of shark fins that system to check that no endangered species are fished. The program is also aimed at researchers, teachers and anyone curious to identify this animal, feared and admired.
In addition to this initiative, says the specialist, there are other similar as the application developed by the University Stanford (USA) to take pictures of rare species of shark and share on a network worldwide.
To Barone, “the more the availability of these data, most significant are the results.”
And so, in the future, comments, fishing companies can determine what type of sharks being caught and “report from the ships to the authorities” in order not to exceed the quotas established for certain species.
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