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A 10-year-old international plan to save sharks has largely failed, and only 13 of the top 20 shark-catching countries have developed national plans to protect the endangered creatures, a report showed on Thursday.

Shark populations have been falling worldwide, mostly due to overfishing to satisfy demand for shark fin soup in East Asia.

In 2001, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) approved an international plan aimed at conserving sharks after it found that a serious monitoring and control program was lacking for international shark trade.

"With 30 percent of shark species now threatened or near threatened with extinction, there is little evidence that the plan has contributed significantly to improved conservation and management of these animals," the report said.

Twenty countries account for nearly 80 percent of the total number of sharks caught globally. An estimated 73 million sharks are killed annually, mostly for their fins, the US-based Environmental Defense Fund said last year.

Indonesia alone catches 13 percent of the world's sharks, according to the report, entitled 'The Future of Sharks: a Review of Action and Inaction", which was released on Thursday.

Other big catchers include India, Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Pakistan, the United States, Japan and Malaysia.

去聽寫專區(qū)一展身手

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Renee Haines is an editor and broadcaster at China Daily. Renee has more than 15 years of experience as a newspaper editor, radio station anchor and news director, news-wire service reporter and bureau chief, magazine writer, book editor and website consultant. She came to China from the United States.