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PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Federal regulators say they are reviewing the status of the porbeagle shark to determine if listing the species under the Endangered Species Act is warranted.
Porbeagle sharks are popular as meat and with game fishermen. Regulators say the animals are threatened by the shark fin trade and bycatch from other fisheries. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists them as vulnerable.
The National Marine Fisheries Service says it is responding to a recent court order and new information about the sharks. The service says it will compile information for a status report that will then be independently peer reviewed.
Porbeagle sharks are found in the North Atlantic Ocean, Southern Hemisphere and Mediterranean.
A decision on whether to list the sharks as endangered should be made by December.
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