The EU will for the first time regulate the fishing of sharks, feared for their predatory skills but which are themselves in danger of being caught to extinction.

EU Commissioner Joe Borg, responsible for fisheries, yesterday announced a plan of action for the conservation and management of sharks.

The plan aims to help rebuild shark stocks wherever they are under threat and to set down guidelines for the sustainable management of fishing of sharks even when they are taken as a by-catch. It covers all cartilaginous fish, not only sharks but also skates, rays and chimaeras, which make up over 1,000 species in total.

The move was welcomed by the Shark Alliance, a coalition of non-governmental organisations dedicated to science-based conservation of sharks.

Graziella Cavlan, Malta's Shark Project coordinator at Nature Trust who was present for the plan's unveiling in Brussels, enthused that this was a historic occasion for their alliance as they had been asking for such a plan for years.

She said sharks are commonly caught off Malta although not close to the shore. "Our data shows that many sharks are caught by Maltese fishermen although not all of them are actually reported. We also think that Maltese waters could be a fertile breeding ground for sharks."

The group is planning to undertake an EU-funded project together with Lampedusa and southern Italian regions to study shark movements in the waters around Malta.

A local enthusiast who was also present in Brussels, Alex "Sharkman" Buttigieg, welcomed the plan, saying it would hopefully be approved by the EU Council.

The plan protects sharks from fining, the practice of killing sharks for their fins which are used for an oriental soup. Although there is no fining in Malta, there is no guarantee that there would never be, he said.

Dr Borg said that sharks are very vulnerable to over-exploitation and there may be serious consequences if their numbers are depleted not only for sharks but also for marine ecosystems and for fishermen themselves.

Shark fishing has been growing rapidly since the mid-1980s, mainly driven by expanding demand from Asian markets. Between 1984 and 2004 world catches of sharks grew from 600,000 to over 810,000 metric tonnes annually. The EU fleet now takes about 100,000 tonnes of sharks and related species each year.