As of Friday, 54 new shark species are internationally protected from the trade in their fins, flourishing in Asia.
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© JOSEPH PREZIOSO / ANADOLU AGENCY / Anadolu Agency via AFP
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SOn the biodiversity front, the conference on international trade in endangered species meeting in Panama took a decision described as “historic” by the host country on Friday, aimed at protecting around fifty species of sharks threatened by the flourishing traffic of their fins in Asia. On the last day of this 19e Conference (COP19) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), delegates from 183 States and the European Union (EU) decided in plenary session to regulate the fishing of 54 species requiem sharks (Carcharhinidae) and hammerhead sharks (Sphynidae).
These sharks have been listed in Appendix II of CITES, strictly limiting the trade of certain species by consensus, despite the reservations expressed by Japan concerning the protection granted to the blue shark, believing that it is not a question of an endangered species. The Japanese delegate expressed his country’s “serious concern” about the consequences of this decision, which is considered “detrimental from a social and economic point of view” for the fishermen of his country.
The most discussed measure of the summit
The protection of these sharks, requested by the EU and fifteen countries, including Panama, was the most discussed decision of the summit which began on November 14. Over the course of the debates, it became an emblematic measure of the conference and several delegations had put stuffed sharks on their desks.
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Shirley Binder, the delegate from Panama, argued that the sharks that will now benefit from CITES protection represent “approximately 90% of the market” for shark fins. This market, whose center is in Hong Kong, exceeds half a billion dollars per year (483 million euros). The fins can sell for $1,000 per kilo in East Asia to make very famous soups of traditional Chinese cuisine.
A dish reserved for the elite
Adorned with mythical therapeutic and aphrodisiac virtues, formerly reserved for the emperor of China, then for an elite, this dish has become a marker of social success, essential in banquets and festive meals. Guitar rays (Rhinobatidae) and freshwater stingray species (Potamotrygon) will also benefit from the protection of Appendix II, CITES has decided by consensus. These are species that are not yet threatened with extinction but could become so if their trade is not tightly controlled. Appendix I, on the other hand, totally prohibits trade in certain species.
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“This will be remembered as the day we reversed the trend to prevent the extinction of the world’s sharks and rays,” said the NGO Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in a statement. “This historic list of around 100 highly traded species will lead to the adoption of the national conservation measures that these species urgently need. The crucial next step will be to implement these listings and ensure that they translate into stronger trade and fisheries management measures as soon as possible.
Millions of sharks killed every year
According to the director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the NGO IFAW, Joaquin de la Torre, “Sharks and rays are today the most threatened group of species, even more threatened than elephants and the big cats. “International demand for their fins and meat […] has caused a significant decline in their populations worldwide: it is estimated that more than 100 million sharks die each year in fisheries, “double” the number of removals to preserve the species, he said. at Agence France-Presse.
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The world “is in the midst of a great shark extinction crisis,” adds Luke Warwick, director for shark protection at the NGO Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The only dissonant voice within organizations for the defense of the environment, the French NGO Fondation Brigitte Bardot denounced in a press release “a high mass (which) has once again demonstrated that CITES is not intended to protect wild animals but to orchestrate their international trade by trying to repair, with a few band-aids, the ecological disaster it is causing”.