Bonn/Manila, 12 February
2010 - A new landmark agreement to counteract
the alarming decline of sharks was concluded
on Friday under the auspices of the UNEP
administered Convention on the Conservation
of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).
Government representatives
meeting in Manila, Philippines, agreed on
the text of a Memorandum of Understanding
on the conservation of migratory sharks.
At the meeting, delegates
agreed to include all seven shark species
in the CMS appendices under this agreement:
the Great White, Basking, Whale, Porbeagle,
Spiny Dogfish, Shortfin and Longfin Mako
Sharks. They are to benefit from better
international protection by fishing nations
through reduction of threats, in particular
illegal fishing and trade, by enforcing
existing laws.
CMS Executive Secretary
Elizabeth Maruma Mrema said: "This
first global CMS instrument on commercially
exploited species is a decisive step forward
in international shark conservation. Wildlife
Conventions, UN Agencies and international
fisheries need to work together to prevent
these creatures that roam the world's oceans
from becoming extinct."
The goal of the CMS
agreement is the restoration and long term
viability of populations of migratory sharks
covered by the instrument. A conservation
and management plan was thoroughly discussed
as a first step towards international cooperation
on the protection of sharks. By signing
this agreement, countries have expressed
their willingness to conserve the endangered
shark species covered under this agreement.
According to the IUCN
Red List 2010, 17% of 1,044 shark species
are threatened. At present, our knowledge
of about 47% of shark species is too limited
to even assess if they are threatened.
Over-fishing, fisheries
by-catch, illegal trade, habitat destruction,
depletion of prey species, pollution with
a high risk of mercury intoxication, boat
strikes and the impact of climate change
on the marine environment seriously threaten
sharks. Sharks have slow growth with a gestation
period of up to 22 months. They might reach
maturity only after 20 years years and produce
relatively few young. Being top predators,
their natural mortality is low. Sharks have
high life-expectancy: Whales Sharks can
live up to 100 years. Some shark species
are highly migratory, which makes it difficult
to protect the species and its habitat across
a global range. These biological characteristics
make sharks particularly vulnerable with
little chance to recover if overfished.
Some species such as
Mako Sharks are targeted for sports fishing,
trophy hunting, and as cure in traditional
medicine. According to the IUCN Red List
of the World Conservation Union, 14 shark
species are "critically endangered"
and face an extremely high risk of extinction
in the wild.
Sharks suffer from overexploitation
as both target and non target catch. According
to the Food and Agricultural Organization
(FAO), up to 900,000 metric tons of sharks
have been caught every year for the last
two decades. However, taking into account
illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
and missing data , the catch figure is expected
to be at least twice as high.
Since the late 1980s
Whale Shark meat has been increasingly considered
as a high-grade product and gained acceptance
by consumers as an exotic food, and prices
began to skyrocket. TRAFFIC, the wildlife
trade monitoring network, reported 2000
kg of Whale Shark meat sold in Taiwan for
USD 7,000 (€ 4,500).
Total catches in global
shark fisheries are still increasing, while
some populations have already crashed. Studies
reveal that shark populations collapsed
in the Northwest Atlantic by 75% within
15 years, and both in the Gulf of Mexico
and in the Mediterranean Sea by 90%. Valuable
fish and crustacean fisheries such as high
sea long-line and driftnet fleets that target
tuna, sword fish, sail fish and marlin claim
an unsustainably high death toll on sharks.
Although a shark finning
ban was adopted as of mid 2007 by 19 countries,
the European Union and 9 Regional Fisheries
Management Organizations for fishing vessels
in their waters, sharks continue to be hunted.
High demand and price of shark fins have
triggered increased hunting activities.
While the finless bodies are dumped into
the sea, fins can be easily stored on board
of fishing vessels without competing for
storage space with more valuable fish species.
This gives a considerable incentive for
finning and exacerbates the problem of overexploitation.
A growing number of
commercially exploited sharks have been
listed on the appendices of CMS and CITES.
The Spiny Dogfish and the Porbeagle Shark
are being proposed by governments for inclusion
on CITES Appendix II to avoid overexploitation
by imposing controls in trade.
Short and long-finned
Mako Sharks, the Porbeagle Shark and the
Spiny Dogfish continue to be seriously threatened
by over-fishing despite their indispensable
role in the oceans' ecosystems. Their listing
on CMS Appendix II encourages range states
to conclude international agreements.
The first global instrument
on sharks is expected to complement existing
international wildlife conservation agreements,
fisheries agreements and regional fisheries
management organizations. CMS Appendix I
lists migratory sharks that are threatened
with extinction. Member states to the Convention
shall prohibit their hunting, fishing and
deliberate killing and implement comprehensive
conservation activities. In the view of
overall declining marine biodiversity and
overfishing of top predators in particular,
the CMS Sharks agreement renews efforts
during the International Year of Biodiversity
to counteract the global loss of biodiversity.
Notes to Editors:
The Convention on the
Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild
Animals, also known as the Bonn Convention
works for the conservation of a wide array
of endangered migratory animals worldwide
through the negotiation and implementation
of agreements and species action plans.
With currently 113 member countries, many
of them in Africa, CMS is a fast-growing
convention with special importance due to
its expertise in the field of migratory
species.
The FAO Code of Conduct
for Responsible Fisheries aims to facilitate
long term sustainable use of the world's
fish stocks. The FAO International Plan
of Action for the Conservation and Management
of Sharks (IPOA) is based on this Code of
Conduct. The IPOA-Sharks is a voluntary
international instrument for nations to
take action to ensure the conservation and
management of sharks and their long-term
sustainable use by developing and implementing
complementary National Plans of Action for
the Conservation and Management of Sharks
(NPOA-sharks). UN General Assembly resolutions
59/25, 61/105 and 62/177 concern the implementation
of the IPOA-Sharks.
The United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provides
a framework for the conservation and management
of fisheries. Coastal States have the obligation
to ensure fish stocks occurring within 200
nautical miles away from the coast.
The UN Fish Stocks Agreement
elaborates upon provisions of UNCLOS and
aims to greatly improve the international
management of fishing on the high seas.
Its purpose is to ensure the long-term conservation
and sustainable use of straddling and highly
migratory fish stocks through global, regional
and sub-regional fisheries management organizations.
The Barcelona Convention
is to prevent and reduce pollution from
ships, aircraft and land based sources in
the Mediterranean Sea. Together with its
protocols and the Mediterranean Action Plan,
form part of the UNEPRegional Seas Programme.
Regional Fisheries Management
Organizations (RFMOs) are responsible for
managing fish stocks on high seas and those
which migrate through the waters of more
than just a single State. However, no RFMO
is dedicated explicitly to the conservation
and management of sharks.
