Porbeagles and spiny dogfish, two over-exploited shark species who are heavily fished for their meat and fins, failed by a slim margin to gain protection at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) meeting taking place now in The Hague. However, the decision is not final and CITES member nations could have another opportunity to rein in this under-regulated trade.
Eleven Caribbean nations did not vote in favor of restricting trade in dogfish and porbeagle products. We need your help to encourage them to take every opportunity to protect these shark species during the final days of the CITES meeting. Click here to urge the Caribbean nations to support global shark protection.
Sharks are a keystone species in the ocean ecosystem, and the dogfish and porbeagle need your help to ensure that the Caribbean nations vote in their favor at the CITES meeting.
Thanks for all you do for animals. Be sure to check www.hsi.org/CITES for regular updates from the CITES meeting.
Sincerely,
Andrew Rowan
Chief Executive
Officer
Humane Society International
07/6/2007
WORLD
OCEANS DAY:
OCEANA SUPPORTS THE PROTECTION OF
TWO SHARK SPECIES
THREATENED
BY EXTINCTION
Many
sharks and other elasmobranches are threatened by extinction. The
inclusion of two of these species in CITES is necessary to ensure
their sustainable future.
Upon the eve of
World Oceans Day celebration, Oceana, the international
organisation dedicated to the protection of the world’s oceans,
strongly supports the definitive listing of the spiny dogfish
(Squalus
acanthias) and porbeagle
shark (Lamna
nasus) under Appendix
II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The official EU
position, adopted by the European Council last
25th
May,
is to support the proposals to include these two shark species in
CITES Appendix II. The final decision for inclusion in the
Convention will be held at the 14th
meeting of the
Conference of the Parties, which is taking place in The Hague,
Netherlands, from 3 to 15 June 2007.
These proposals
originated in the European Union. Oceana commends the EU for taking
these first steps in ensuring a sustainable shark trade, and hopes
this favourable position is maintained by the EU, and upheld by all
CITES contracting parties, during the two-week long meeting. Both
of these shark species enter international trade in considerable
volumes and most experts agree that they are relevant for
protection by CITES. However, there remains to be opposition from
countries that oppose CITES action for marine fish in general, as
well as from nations that target these species in various
fisheries.
The severe
depletion of these species’ populations in several parts of the
world is well documented, and both are categorized by the World
Conservation Union’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, as
“Vulnerable” globally, “Endangered” in the Northwest Atlantic
Ocean, and “Critically Endangered” in the Northeast Atlantic
Ocean.
Today, many
spiny dogfish fisheries are unmanaged, and numerous stocks are
overfished. European demand for this shark’s meat, often used in
the famous “fish and chips” dish, is driving directed fisheries
which target pregnant females and results in the serial depletion
of populations around the world. In the case of the porbeagle
shark, the high commercial demand, coupled with little, or no,
fishing restriction has led to population declines in many areas,
most dramatically in the North Atlantic. This shark has been
targeted for decades, and is also often caught as bycatch in many
fisheries. Its meat is highly prized in Europe, and its large fins
are valuable on the Asian fin market.
CITES provides
an international legal framework for regulating trade of species in
danger of extinction. Therefore, the monitoring of the trade of
these species via CITES Appendix II is urgently needed. An Appendix
II listing serves to limit trade to sustainable levels through the
requirement of export permits.
“I
strongly believe that controlling the trade of the dogfish and
porbeagle sharks through CITES Appendix II can even improve the
effectiveness of fisheries management actions – like adopting
adequate fishing quotas and implementing the International Plan of
Action for Sharks- in countries currently exporting these two
species from depleted population,”
said
Ricardo Aguilar, Director of Research for Oceana in Europe.
“This
would help ensure that developing fisheries for these species are
sustainable”, adds
Aguilar.
In addition to
these two shark species, the inclusion of sawfishes in CITES
Appendix I is also up for debate. The entire Pristidae family
(seven species of sawfish) is categorized as “Critically
Endangered”, according to IUCN Red List criteria, and it is very
possible that the last populations of sawfishes in Europe are
already extinct. Inclusion in Annex I would effectively ban all
trade of these fish. Oceana stresses the importance of the sawfish
family being added to CITES Appendix I so that these species do not
become extinct around the world.
OCEANA
Plaza
España-Leganitos 47. 28013 Madrid, Spain
Tel:
+ 34
911 440 880
Fax: + 34 911 440
890
E-mail:
europe@oceana.org
Web:
www.oceana.org
Oceana is an
international organization which campaigns to protect and restore
the world’s oceans. Our teams of marine scientists, economists,
lawyers and other collaborators are achieving specific and concrete
policy changes to reduce pollution and prevent the irreversible
collapse of fish populations, and to protect marine mammals and
other sea life It has offices based in Europe – (in Madrid in Spain
and Brussels in Belgium), in North America (Washington, DC, Juneau
(Alaska) and Los Angeles (CA), and in South America ( in Santiago
in Chile). More than 300,000 members and e-activists in 150
countries have already joined Oceana.
For
more information please visit www.Oceana.org
CITES CONFERENCE
in
The Hague, the Netherlands
3
to 15 June 2007
The
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international convention aimed at
ensuring that trade in wild animals and plants does not threaten
their survival. The three CITES appendices list over 30,000 species
of wild animals and plants, and the convention also establishes a
system for permits and certification.
The CITES 14th Conference of Parties (CoP14) will be held from 3 to
15 June 2007 in The Hague, the Netherlands. The CoP is held every
two to three years and this is the first time the conference will
be held in the EU. The event will be hosted by the Dutch Minister
of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. During the CoP resolutions
can be passed or amended.
A hundred and sixty-nine countries have signed up to the
convention. The Netherlands ratified CITES in 1985, and the
agreements it made are established in the Flora and Fauna
Act.
The international trade in the species listed in one of the three
CITES appendices is controlled according to an agreed set of terms
and conditions. All information detailed in the permits, about
species, numbers, origin and sex is stored in an international
database. This allows prevailing trade patterns to be easily
monitored, as well as excessive trading in any one species.
Nederland leidt discussie-
Elsevier
Elsevier
De
Cites-conferentie
over de handel in bedreigde diersoorten wordt 3 juni officieel
geopend in Den Haag. De conferentie eindigt 15 juni.
Die
14. Artenschutzkonferenz in Den Haag vom 3. bis 17. Juni 2007
sollte hauptsächlich für den besseren Schutz von Tropenholz und
Fischarten stehen. Es wurden 38 Anträge gestellt und 60 Vorschläge
für Beschlüsse.
Deutschland hat den Antrag auf Unterschutzstellung des Dornhais und
Heringhais gestellt, die beide hauptsächlich in der Nord- und
Ostsee vorkommen. Andere Staaten stellten Anträge zum Schutze des
Sägefisches, des europäischen Aals, die Karibiklanguste, Banggal-,
Kardinalbarsch und andere Fische.
Natürlich werden auch die Wale und Elefanten eine große Rolle
spielen sowie die Tropenhölzer.
Botswana und Namibia haben erneut die Freigabe des Elfenbeinhandels
für Regierungsbestände gefordert, was die Wilderei in ganz Afrika
wieder anheizen wird. Günther Peter,For Animals (Graz) und viele
Verbände aus allen Erdteilen protestieren gegen jeglichen Handel
mit Elfenbein und die Abstufung bedrohter Arten und fordern die
Artenschutzkonferenz (CITES) auf, alle Anträge auf den besseren
Schutz der Tier- und Pflanzenarten zu unterstützen, gerade jetzt,
wo sich wissenschaftliche Ausarbeitungen zum Artenschwund und die
Klimakatastrophe in allen Medien finden. Man schätzt, dass täglich
über 150 Tier- und Pflanzenarten durch die Menschen vernichtet
werden.
Deutschland trägt im Rahmen der EU-Ratspräsidentschaft eine große
Verantwortung für die Entscheidungen der kommenden
Artenschutzkonferenz. Die Politiker, so der
Bundesverdienstkreuzträger Günther Peter, müssen den Artenschutz
endlich ernst nehmen, nicht nur schwatzen. Ebenfalls sind die
Länder, die bedrohte Arten, wie die Meeresschildkröten,
abschlachten oder deren Brutplätze durch den Massentourismus
vernichten, bestrafen. Dies wären z.B. Indonesien, Indien,
Griechenland, Türkei, Mexiko und Costa Rica., Japan, Norwegen, auch
wenn dieses Thema nicht auf der Tagesordnung der diesjährigen
Artenschutzkonferenz in Holland stehen wird.
Günther Peter