CITES as a Tool for Sustainable Development


Book Description

Reviews the key legal and policy innovations along endangered flora and fauna value chains for CITES to promote more sustainable development.




Implementing the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) through national fisheries legal frameworks


Book Description

In recent years, an increasing number of commercially exploited and managed aquatic species, including sharks and rays, have been listed in the Appendices to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The listing of some species in CITES Appendix II has necessitated attention from the fisheries sector of States on how listing would impact on the management of the relevant fisheries. This sourcebook and the research process involved in its development highlighted the opportunity to implement CITES through national fisheries legal frameworks. Indeed, in certain cases, doing so can prove to be vital in giving practical effect to CITES while simultaneously enhancing fisheries management regimes and ensuring that all activities along the fisheries value chain, especially the international trade in CITES-listed aquatic species, are legal, traceable and sustainable. The study recognizes that communities operating within the CITES regime and in the fisheries sectors have their own particular areas of work. However, they should cooperate and coordinate their work where they share the common high-level objectives of ensuring responsible, legal and sustainable utilization of resources, including species, biodiversity and ecosystems, and implementing the relevant Sustainable Development Goals. This sourcebook was first published in 2020, designated as a "super year" for nature and biodiversity. The second edition of this sourcebook was developed to take into account and reflect the outcomes of the 19th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES, in 2022. The sourcebook is a timely and useful contribution to fisheries management as it seeks to provide support in: (i) raising awareness of CITES; (ii) enhancing comprehension of the CITES regime and its relationship with the fisheries sector; and (iii) where a deliberate decision is made by a country to implement CITES through its national fisheries legal frameworks, providing guidance on what to do and how to do it.




Better data collection in shark fisheries – Learning from practice


Book Description

Some species and stocks of sharks, rays, skates, and chimaeras (termed shark in this review) are rapidly depleting due to climate change, land-based influences, and overfishing. These pressures, coupled with sharks’ low reproductive potential (slow growth and delayed maturation; long reproductive cycles; low fecundity; and long lifespans) place sharks in a risk profile that is more akin to mammals on land than fish in the ocean. The development of policy, and the delivery of management and conservation measures regulating the use, international trade, and capture of sharks (whether as a targeted species or as bycatch in fisheries), is hindered by gaps in basic knowledge – a knowledge that is required in order to get a clear sense of their status in real-time. Many countries are establishing or strengthening monitoring across shark value chains to overcome these shortfalls in information. This document reviews what shark fisheries data is being collected, highlighting the opportunities and constraints in collecting information on sharks in fisheries, based on practical experience. It includes information from 28 surveys across 19 countries: 9 in the Mediterranean, 5 in Africa, 3 in Asia, and 1 in Oceania. Interviews were conducted with data collectors and managers across the entirety of the survey process, while data collection variables were documented in order to inform those interested in the collection, provision, and exchange of shark information on common practices and their commonalities. The review identifies standardized information metrics which, if collected more generally, would strengthen the opportunity for harmonized reporting and cross-comparability across surveys. In addition – and in order to assess the status quo – the current data collection requirements of management measures applied to sharks by regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) were reviewed, including “no retention” measures. Finally, the review proposes a list of the minimum standard measurements and common life-history parameters required to support the assessment of shark stocks in fisheries.




Implementing the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora through national fisheries legal frameworks


Book Description

An increasing number of commercially exploited and managed aquatic species has been listed in the Appendices to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), triggering the attention from the fisheries sector of States on how listing would impact on the management of the relevant fisheries. CITES regulates international trade in certain aquatic species, including those which are, and can be, commercially exploited and which are being managed by the fisheries sector. The fisheries sector legal frameworks will have to recognize and enable the various requirements provided for in CITES, including the making of non-detriment findings and ensuring that there is a designated management authority and scientific authority to take certain decisions in respect of listed commercially exploited and managed aquatic species. This sourcebook provides clarifications on the relationship of CITES with the fisheries sector and provides guidance on how national fisheries legal frameworks can optimize the implementation of CITES. The realisation of this sourcebook in 2020, designated as a “super year” for nature and biodiversity, represents a timely and useful contribution to fisheries management, by (i) raising awareness of CITES; (ii) enhancing comprehension of the CITES regime and its relationship with the fisheries sector and (iii) where a deliberate decision is made by a country to implement CITES through its national fisheries legal frameworks, providing guidance as to what do it and how to do it.




Field Guide to Sharks, Rays and Chimaeras of the East Coast of North America


Book Description

The definitive field guide to all the sharks, rays and chimaeras of eastern North America The waters off the East Coast of North America are home to an amazing variety of sharks, rays and chimaeras. This groundbreaking, comprehensive and easy-to-use field guide covers all 173 species found along the eastern seaboard of the United States and Canada, including Bermuda and the Bahamas, and extending into the Gulf of Mexico to the Yucatan Peninsula. These are all the species that are encountered in the shallow waters of estuaries and coasts and in the open ocean, including rarely seen deepsea species. Lavishly illustrated throughout, this must-have guide includes detailed species accounts describing key identification features, habitat, biology and status. It also features illustrated key guides that enable users to accurately identify species, comparison plates of similar species, dentition plates and illustrations of egg cases, where known. This an essential guide for fisheries management, trade regulation and shark conservation. The first field guide to cover all 173 species Features hundreds of color illustrations and photos Describes key features, habitat, biology and status Includes depth guides, at-a-glance icons and distribution maps Offers illustrated key guides, species comparisons and dentition plates




CITES and the sea


Book Description

Fish and fish products are amongst the most highly traded food items in the world today, with most of the world’s countries reporting some fish trade. This assessment of commercial trade in CITES-listed marine species occurs within a broader context of globalization and a more general rapid expansion of the international trade in fish and fish products. It summarizes ten years (2007–2016) of trade in a subset of commercially exploited marine taxa listed in CITES Appendix II. We examine both CITES trade data reporting processes (including information on the practical elements of reporting by CITES Parties) and analyse CITES trade records. The analysis shows how, for Appendix II CITES-listed marine species, the overall number of direct export transactions reported by CITES Parties has increased sevenfold during 1990–2016 and how trade for each CITES-listed marine species sub-group has changed through time. An assessment is made, with assistance from species and trade experts, on the strengths and challenges of collating and reporting on trade in CITES-listed marine species. Additional datasets of relevance to marine species trade are highlighted, and recommendations for further refining and improving CITES trade reporting for marine species are provided.




Report of the First meeting of the WECAFC/OSPESCA/CRFM/CITES/CFMC working group on shark conservation and management, Bridgetown, Barbados, 17-19 October 2017


Book Description

The First meeting of the WECAFC/OSPESCA/CRFM/CITES/CFMC Working Group on shark conservation and management was held in Barbados on 17-19 October 2017. The meeting was attended by 30 shark fisheries experts from 15 WECAFC member countries and partner agencies. The meeting recognized the decline in various shark and ray stocks in the Caribbean region, as well as the need to conserve the threatened species among them. The meeting stressed the importance of harmonizing conservation and management measures with various international and regional conventions for the protection of these often-migratory species, as well as with measures by regional fisheries management bodies in the Atlantic. The fisheries experts recommended amongst others that the countries in the region should prohibit the removal of shark fins at sea and require that all sharks be landed with their fins naturally attached through the point of first landing of the sharks. The experts recommended the prohibition of targeted fisheries for iconic species, such as whale sharks, sawfishes and manta rays. The experts worked on a regional shark stocks and fisheries status assessment and a Regional Plan of Action for the conservation and management of sharks and rays in the WECAFC area.




International Law of Sharks


Book Description

In International Law of Sharks, Erika J. Techera and Natalie Klein provide an in-depth analysis of the current legal frameworks that relate to these important species. The authors offer ways in which to overcome obstacles that prevent existing laws from working better and identify best practice global governance options while highlighting opportunities for legal reform. Scientific evidence indicates that sharks play a critical role in maintaining marine ecosystem health, yet current governance regimes have not been effective and many shark species continue to diminish. In this context, effective laws are critical to improve sharks’ conservation status. This volume also explores the broader relevance of oceans governance by identifying appropriate legal frameworks and regulatory mechanisms that balance conservation and utilisation of marine species in general.




Sharks: Conservation, Governance and Management


Book Description

The key aim of this book is to explore the global conservation and management of sharks. There has been a rapid decline in populations of many shark species, while new science has emerged of the critical role they play in marine ecosystems. However, the authors show that conservation law and policy have been slow to develop, with only a small number of iconic species being protected worldwide. The increase in fishing impact – primarily through shark finning and by-catch - has led to shark conservation receiving greater international attention in recent years. The book explores our current knowledge and status of the law and science in relation to sharks with a particular focus on improving frameworks for their conservation and management. Recent trends are analysed, including shark finning bans that have been put in place in several countries, the widening number of nations establishing shark sanctuaries and the growth of shark-based tourism. The efficacy of current listing processes for endangered species and fisheries regulations is also examined. Tourism is explored as an alternative to fishing and the risks and impacts associated with this industry are analysed. Contributors include leading authorities from universities and conservation organizations in North America, Europe and Australia. A common theme is to emphasise the importance of collaborative governance between various interest groups and the need for inter-disciplinary research and management approaches that are necessary to address the decline in sharks.




A study of shark and ray non-fin commodities in Mexico


Book Description

The work presented here summarizes published research from Mexico, also linked to an FAO summary, plus studies from India, Indonesia and Peru. In collaboration with various country programmes and local research groups, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) examined shark and ray value chains. The goal was to provide valuable information for fisheries and environmental agencies, shedding light on the role of non-fin commodities derived from sharks and rays in fisheries and trade. To effectively conserve shark and ray resources, we must adopt a more holistic understanding of their fisheries and markets. Historically, the focus has primarily centred on regulating the export of shark fins, often overlooking traditional and emerging fishing practices (and markets) related to other elasmobranch products (such as meat, skin, cartilage, liver oil, and gill plates). Due to limited examination of non-fin commodities, we lack clarity on their sources, the extent of exploitation, and their significance as drivers of elasmobranch utilization. The report aims to shift attention towards non-fin commodities in shark and ray management. By doing so, we hope to expand the range of potential interventions that can be employed to achieve sustainable elasmobranch fisheries – a critical source of food security, nutrition, and livelihoods for coastal communities worldwide.