recognized need for urgent action. The European Union prohibits EU vessels from fishing for, retaining, boarding, transhipping, or landing porbeagle sharks in all waters since January 2011. It is subject to a zero total allowable catch in EU waters by any vessel. Western North Atlantic The western North Atlantic porbeagle population has a more positive prospect than in the eastern North Atlantic. Fishing in Canadian waters was originally regulated by the 1995 Fisheries Management Plan for pelagic sharks in Atlantic Canada, which established an annual quota of 1,500 tons, restricted the time, place, and gear types allowed for commercial fishing, and set limits for bycatch and recreational fishing. In 2000–2001, Fisheries and Oceans Canada prepared a detailed population model and concluded that a quota of 200–250 tons would allow for population growth, resulting in a quota of 250 tons being adopted for the period of 2002–2007. The mating grounds off Newfoundland were also closed to shark fishing. In 2004, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada listed the porbeagle as endangered, largely on the basis of the low population abundance (<25% of original numbers). Canada decided not to list the species under its Species At Risk Act, but further reduced the total fishing quota to 185 tons. In US waters, the 1993 Fishery Management Plan for Sharks of the Atlantic Ocean sets an annual quota of 92 tons (after processing) for the porbeagle. In 2006, this species was listed as a species of concern by the NMFS, meaning that it merits conservation concern, but data are insufficient for inclusion on the US Endangered Species Act. References External links Lamna nasus, Porbeagle at FishBase Biological Profiles: Porbeagle at Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department Biology of the Porbeagle at ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research Porbeagle Shark at Canadian Shark Research Laboratory Fish described in 1788 Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish of the Pacific Ocean Lamna Extant Miocene first appearances Species endangered by use as food Taxa named by Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre