White shark (Carcharodon carcharias) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 10
Existing Protection or Other Status Designations
In the fall of 2004, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) listed white shark in Appendix II. The World Conservation Union (IUCN 2000) listed white shark globally as ‘vulnerable’. In California, the white shark has been protected since 1997, making it illegal to attract or harass a white shark in any way as well as to possess or sell a specimen in whole or in part; any vessel containing white shark material is refused landing in State ports. The species has also been protected along U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts under the federal Fisheries Management Plan since 1997, but recreational catch and release is permitted with a marine sport angling licence. The white shark is also listed in Appendices I and II of the Convention on Migratory Species, a United Nations Treaty Organization.
No federal or provincial laws explicitly protect white sharks in Canadian waters. On Canada’s Pacific coast, hook and line fisheries are prohibited from keeping any shark except dogfish and therefore white shark receives some protection by this regulation. In Atlantic Canada, shark fishing regulations prohibit the retention of any recreationally caught sharks other than dogfish.
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