According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) catch statistics, Spain, France, Portugal, and the United Kingdom (UK) rank among the top 20 ‘shark’ (term also includes rays and chimaeras) fishing countries, putting the EU second in the world for landings of these species. Spain ranks third overall with 7.3 percent of the total global shark catch, while France, Portugal and the UK come in 12th, 16th and 19th, respectively.