U.N. Events Highlight Shark Conservation Efforts, Progress

With many shark populations still in decline from decades of fishing at unsustainable levels, it was encouraging to see experts, advocates, and senior government officials from around the world come together around World Wildlife Day, March 3, to acknowledge the progress that’s been made to reverse those declines.

At a reception at the New York Aquarium held the day after World Wildlife Day, Ali Naseer Mohamed, the Maldives’ ambassador to the United Nations and chair of the U.N. Save Our Sharks Coalition, discussed how the Maldives and other countries are protecting sharks and rays as guests viewed 18 species of these fish in the “Ocean Wonders: Sharks!” exhibit.

The Pew Charitable Trusts

Ambassador Mohamed noted that the importance of sharks to the marine ecosystem and the economy of his country led the government to ban the commercial fishing of sharks and rays throughout its waters. With one of 17 shark sanctuaries around the world, the Maldives has continued to be a regional and global leader for shark conservation, particularly within the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Luke Warwick, associate director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s sharks and rays program, summarized the important role CITES has played with the conservation and management of sharks and rays.

The Maldives has joined 66 governments in co-sponsoring  one or more of the proposals to list mako sharks, giant guitarfish, and wedgefish on Appendix II of CITES at the 18th meeting of the Conference of the Parties in May. Species listed on Appendix II can be traded internationally only if the trade is sustainable and does not cause detriment to them in the wild. The co-sponsorships—the most ever for a CITES proposal—highlight the growing support for additional listings of these vulnerable species.

Populations of mako sharks, giant guitarfish, and wedgefish have declined significantly in recent decades, largely driven by the demand for their fins in international trade.

Matthew D. Potenski

At World Wildlife Day celebrations hosted by the CITES secretariat at the U.N. in New York and Geneva on March 1, Amanda Nickson, director of international fisheries with The Pew Charitable Trusts, and Paulus Tak, a senior officer with Pew’s government relations department, spoke on panels to highlight the role nongovernmental organizations have played in the successful implementation of shark and ray listings on CITES Appendix II. NGOs and partner governments have hosted workshops around the world to showcase enforcement tools, including fin identification guides, and share how governments are implementing the CITES measures.

World Wildlife Day provided an opportunity to highlight how CITES has become a driving force in global shark conservation and management by adopting listings to cap international trade of threatened species to sustainable levels and encouraging countries to better manage these species.

KerriLynn Miller is an officer with The Pew Charitable Trusts’ global shark conservation campaign.