In my blog entry 2011:Year of the Shark I noted the many resolutions that had taken place around the world on local and national scales to protect sharks from finning and long-line fishing. In March this year CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) weighed in on the side of marine life and made governments place shark conservation on their agendas. Its 178 members countries oversee the protection of more than 30 000 species of plant and animal life and, through legally binding agreements, CITES can impose sanctions on governments that fail to implement its resolutions. Despite severe opposition from Japan, China and India proposals to protect three species of hammerhead, as well as porbeagle and oceanic whitetip sharks, manta rays and sawfish were approved by a majority of just over 1%. The credit for this victory lies in the unity shown by Latin American members. International wildlife trade accounts for billions of dollars in revenue and CITES can now insist on responsible controls to prevent further exploitation of these species. Since it has no say in domestic policy-making, but only the regulation of international trade, it remains to be seen how much pressure the Convention will actually exert on members. Without imposing sanctions the resolutions has no teeth. A significant problem in tracking and controlling the international trade, far beyond the loopholes that individual members countries allow in their domestic fishing policies, is the fact that many illegally caught sharks and rays are transferred from boat to boat in the unmonitored space of international waters. Tuna vessels, often guilty of indiscriminately hauling in sharks with their catch, present the member states with the greatest challenge. Poorly managed tuna fishing is thus a related problem and one that will have to be addressed alongside protecting the larger aquatic life forms. The issue at stake is really the commitment to the policing of the high seas. We have seen how the international community has recently responded to the threat of pirates off the coast of Somalia with armed patrols to protect human and commercial cargo. It will be interesting to see how the growing need to respond to poachers plays out. Environmental groups and scientists have already made arguments, simple yet forceful enough, to convince us that our fate is bound up with that of the oceans, and so in effect any plundering of already endangered species is an indirect attack on humans too. Additional Sources: Landmark Shark Ban Upheld at Conservation Meeting CITES Makes Historical Decision to Protect Sharks and Rays
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