CITES: 26th Animal Committee Meeting
CITES 26th Meeting of Animal Committee in Geneva
Twenty-sixth meeting of the Animals Committee
Geneva (Switzerland), 15-20 March 2012
Part 1 : The shark-related contributions for each day of the meeting provided by the IISD Reporting Services.
Part 2 : The Shark Working Group Report published by CITES.
PART 1:
Thursday, 15 March 2012
The twenty-sixth meeting of the Animals Committee (AC26) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) opened today in Geneva, Switzerland.(…)Throughout the day participants discussed the Periodic Review of Appendices as well as conservation matters concerning shark, snake, sturgeon and paddlefish and sea cucumber. (…)
Friday, 16 March 2012
(…) The Working Group on Listing Criteria discussed, inter alia, whether to provide guidance for determining if commercially exploitable aquatic species qualify for listing on CITES Appendix II when that species has multiple stocks or subpopulations. (…)
Saturday, 17 March 2012
(…)The sharks working group considered, inter alia: national reports; the report of the CITES/FAO workshop to review the application and effectiveness of international regulatory measures for the conservation and sustainable use of sharks; complementarity with regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) measures; and CITES and FAO shark questionnaires, noting that, out of the 26 top shark fishing states, 10 and 8 nations, respectively, did not respond. Participants also discussed draft recommendations, including asking the CITES Secretariat to request parties to submit outstanding shark questionnaire responses and urging them to record trade data at the species level. (…)
Monday, 19 March 2012
(…) The shark working group continued revising draft recommendations for the AC and discussed outstanding information and analysis concerns, inter alia: whether to attach party responses to the CITES shark questionnaire as a list of shark species or to compile it in a table with additional information for analysis; and an in-progress FAO review of commercially exploited aquatic species. (…)
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
On Tuesday, AC26 Participants reconvened for the last day to hear recommendations from working groups and proceed to adopt them. (…) On sharks, the Committee recommended, inter alia, that the CITES Secretariat contact the top 26 shark fishing member States that did not respond to CITES notifications relating to sharks or to the FAO questionnaire on the status of implementation of the FAO IPOA-Sharks, and encourage a response and make this information publicly available to parties.
Shortly before the closing of the meeting, Ireland welcomed the forthcoming arrival of all the delegates to Dublin for the Joint AC& PC and PC meetings and encouraged other parties to host future CITES meetings. The meeting was gaveled to a close at 18:34.
Source: IISD Reporting Services
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Part 2 :
Twenty-sixth meeting of the Animals Committee
Geneva (Switzerland), 15-20 March 2012 and
Dublin (Ireland), 22-24 March 2012
IMPLEMENTATION OF RESOLUTION CONF. 12.6 (REV. COP15) ON
CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF SHARKS (CLASS CHONDRICHTHYES)
DRAFT PROPOSAL TO INCLUDE LAMNA NASUS IN APPENDIX II
(Agenda items 16 and 26.2)
Membership (as decided by the Committee)
Chairs: representative of Oceania (Mr Robertson) as Chair and alternate representative
of Asia (Mr Ishii) as Vice-Chair;
Parties: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland,
Japan, Norway, Poland, Republic of Korea, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, United
Kingdom and United States; and
IGOs and NGOs: European Union, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
IUCN – International Union for Conservation of Nature, SEAFDEC – Southeast Asian
Fisheries Development Center, Animal Welfare Institute, Defenders of Wildlife,
Fundación Cethus, Humane Society of the United States, Pew Environment
Group, Project AWARE Foundation, Species Management Specialists, Species
Survival Network, SWAN International, TRAFFIC International and Wildlife
Conservation Society, WWF.
Mandate
In support of the implementation of Resolution Conf. 12.6 (Rev. CoP15) and reporting by the Animals
Committee at the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP16), the working group shall:
1. Examine the information provided by range States on trade and other relevant data in response to
Notifications to the Parties Nos. 2010/027 and 2011/049 and taking into account discussions in
plenary, together with the final report of the joint FAO/CITES Workshop to review the application and
effectiveness of international regulatory measures for the conservation and sustainable use of
elasmobranchs (Italy, 2010) and other relevant information;
2. Draft an analysis of the information mentioned in paragraph 1 above, including recommendations, for
consideration by the Committee and subsequent reporting at the 16th meeting of the Conference of
the Parties; and
3. Review the draft proposal to include Lamna nasus in Appendix II, presented in document AC26
Doc. 26.2, and provide comments for consideration by the Committee.
Recommendations
1. Parties take note of the above documents submitted to the Animals Committee when reviewing species of
concern from the Class Chondrichthyes, and the Secretariat inform Parties when the final version of the
UK Report on assessing the intrinsic vulnerability of harvested sharks (AC26 Inf. 9) becomes available;
2. The CITES Secretariat contact the top 26 shark fishing Member States/Entities (i.e. those taking >1% of
the global catch of sharks) that did not respond to CITES notifications (2010/027 and 2011/049 – as they
relate to sharks) or to the FAO questionnaire on the status of implementation of the FAO IPOA–Sharks,
and encourage a response, and the Secretariat to make this information publicly available to the Parties;
3. The CITES Secretariat invite Parties that responded to CITES Notification 2011/049, but did not provide
the following information on trade in sharks and on domestic measures (e.g. laws or regulations) regulating
the import or export of shark parts and products (fins, meat, skin, organs, etc.), to do so, and the
Secretariat to make this information publicly available to the Parties;
4. The CITES Secretariat issue a notification alerting Parties when the FAO report “The Implementation of the
International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks” (in preparation for the
upcoming COFI meeting in July 2012), becomes available and provide a link to this document;
5. The summary list of shark species submitted by Parties in response to Notification 2011/049 a) ii, that they
believe require additional action to enhance their conservation and management, be appended to this
Working Group report;
6. Recognising the MOU between the CITES and FAO Secretariats, ask the CITES Secretariat to request
from FAO the terms of reference for the FAO assessment to be undertaken regarding all commercially
exploited aquatic species listed in the CITES Appendices, make this information available to Parties
through a notification, and request FAO to report on progress in its reports to CoP16 and AC27;
Draft Decisions
1) RECOGNIZING that it is difficult for Parties to avoid importing illegally-obtained shark products if they are
unaware of the domestic legislation and regulations of other Parties, or of measures adopted by RFMOs,
and hence to enable importing Parties, [where applicable,] to assist exporting Parties with the enforcement
of their laws, [as appropriate,] and to assist the Animals Committee to inform the Parties as required under
Resolution Conf. 12.6 (Rev CoP15);
REQUESTS the Animals Committee to ask the Standing Committee to request the Secretariat to:
i) issue a Notification to Parties requesting them to summarise their domestic laws and regulations that
prohibit the landing or trade of shark species and products, and provide copies of or links to these
instruments; in order for the Secretariat to make this information available on the CITES website; and
ii) collaborate with the FAO Secretariat in the development of a single, regularly updated, source
summarising current RFMO measures for shark conservation and management, with information on
species, fisheries, Members/Contracting Parties, and the geographical areas covered and excluded;
2) RECOGNIZING/RECALLING the CITES/CMS Joint Work Plan,
ENCOURAGES Parties to engage with the work of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory
Species of Wild Animals (CMS), as appropriate, particularly for shark species listed in the relevant
Appendices to CITES and CMS, recognising that CMS Parties are required to strive towards strictly
protecting species listed in Appendix I to CMS, including by prohibiting the taking of these species, and to
implement other measures through the Migratory Sharks MOU;
Draft amendment to Resolution Conf. 12.6 (Rev. Cop15)
The following wording (underlined) to be added to operative paragraphs 6 and 8:
URGES Parties that are shark fishing States but that have not yet implemented an NPOA-Sharks, to
develop their own NPOAs at the earliest opportunity and take steps to improve research and data
collection on both fisheries and trade as a first step towards their Shark Plans, particularly the necessity to
improve the collection of catch and trade data at the lowest taxonomic level possible (ideally by species),
and to report these data to the relevant national, regional and international authorities;
ENCOURAGES Parties to improve data collection, data reporting, management and conservation
measures for shark species, implementing, enhancing and enforcing these actions through domestic,
bilateral, RFMOs or other international measures;
LIST OF SHARK SPECIES (CLASS CHONDRICHTHYES) SUBMITTED BY PARTIES
The Animals Committee notes that the following list of shark species (Class Chondrichthyes) were submitted
by the Parties in response to CITES Notification to the Parties No. 2011/049, which invited Parties to submit
a list of shark species (Class Chondrichthyes) that they believe require additional action to enhance their
conservation and management, including if possible any concrete measures which they believe to be needed
(for more details, see documents AC26 Doc. 16.1 and AC26 Doc. 16.2).
Australia (AC26 Doc. 16.2 Annex AU)
School shark (Galeorhinus galeus)
Gulper sharks (Centrophorus harrissoni,
C. moluccensis, C. zeehaani)
Colombia (AC26 Doc. 16.2 Annex CO)
Silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformes)
Oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus)
Scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini)
European Union (AC26 Doc. 16.2 Annex EU)
Shortfin (Isurus oxyrinchus) and longfin Mako
(Isurus paucus)
Porbeagle (Lamna nasus)
Bigeye thresher (Alopias superciliosus)
Silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformes)
Scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini)
Spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias)
India (AC26 Doc. 16.2 Annex IN)
Whale shark (Rhincodon typus)
Knifetooth sawfish (Anoxypristis cuspidate)
Pondicherry shark (Carcharhinus hemiodon)
Ganges shark (Glyphis gangeticus)
Speartooth shark (Glyphis glyphis)
Ganges stingray (Himantura fluviatilis)
Largetooth sawfish (Pristis microdon)
Longcomb sawfish (Pristis zijsron)
Giant guitarfish (Rhynchobatus djiddensis)
Porcupine ray (Urogymnus asperrimus)
Israel (AC26 Doc. 16.2 Annex IL)
Sharpnose guitarfish (Glaucostegus granulatus)
Halavi Guitarfish (Glaucostegus halavi)
Clubnose guitarfish (Glaucostegus thouin)
Common shovelnose Ray, Giant shovelnose Ray
(Glaucostegus typus)
Japan (AC26 Doc. 16.2 Annex JP)
Whale shark (Rhinocodon typus)
Basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus)
Great white shark (Carcharondon carcharias)
Montenegro (this submission was provided after
the deadline and will be posted as an information
document on the CITES website)
Porbeagle (Lamna nasus)
Blue shark (Prionace glauca)
New Zealand (AC26 Doc. 16.2 Annex NZ)
Deepwater Nurse Shark (Odontapsis ferox)
Manta Ray (Manta birostris)
Spinetail Devil Ray/Spinetail Mobula (Mobula
japonica)
Shortfin Mako Shark (Isurus oxyrinchus)
Longfin Mako Shark (Isurus paucus)
Porbeagle (Lamna nasus)
Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna lewini)
Great hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna mokarran)
Smooth Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna zygaena)
Oceanic Whitetip Shark (Carcharhinus longimanus)
United States of America (AC26 Doc. 16.2 AnnexUS)
Spiny dogfish shark (Squalus acanthias)
Porbeagle shark (Lamna nasus)
Freshwater stingrays Family Potamotrygonidae
Sawfishes Family Pristidae
Gulper sharks genus Centrophorus
School, tope, or soupfin shark (Galeorhinus galeus)
Guitarfishes, shovelnose rays Order
Rhinobatiformes
Requiem and pelagic sharks
Devil rays Family Mobulidae
Leopard sharks (Triakis semifasciata)
Hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna spp.)
Dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus)
Thresher sharks (Alopias spp.)
Shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus)
Silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis)
Oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus)
Blue shark (Prionace glauca)
Sandbar shark (Carcharhinus plumbeus)
Bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas)
Tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier)
Source: CITES