Bonn, 7 December 2007 –
As a result of the alarming decline of shark populations
world wide, a CMS meeting to further international cooperation
on migratory sharks will be held 11-13 December in the
Seychelles. Representatives of more than forty ranges
states across the world will attend the meeting, which
is supported by the Government of Seychelles, the Australian
Department of the Environment and Water Resources, the
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of
the United Kingdom, the German Ministry for the Environment
and CMS.
Although sharks have been roaming the seas for millions
of years, they have come under enormous pressure from
human-induced threats. The most important of these threats
are overfishing, bycatch, habitat degradation and collisions
with vessels.
By 2006, three shark species (Basking Shark Cetorhinus
maximus, Whale Shark Rhincodon typus and Great White Shark
Carcharodon carcharias) were listed in the Appendices
of CMS, CITES and IUCN. CMS Resolution 8.5 and Recommendation
8.16 reflect the urgent need for action by national and
regional management authorities to address threats to
migratory sharks.
This meeting is a first step for CMS in fulfilling this
mandate. It will examine the conservation status of migratory
sharks and options for international cooperation. The
objective of the meeting is to reach consensus on possible
instruments of international cooperation under CMS among
the key range states, fishing and exporting countries
under CMS.
The objective of the meeting is to reach consensus on
possible instruments of international cooperation among
the key range states, fishing and exporting countries,
which would then be developed under CMS for further consideration
by governments.
Before setting off for the meeting, CMS Executive Secretary
Robert Hepworth said: "Sharks are a particularly
vulnerable group of species, and many of them are migratory.
A key objective is to increase the current conservation
effort, which I think most key stakeholders would agree
falls well short of what is now required. The CMS Secretariat
is anxious to promote more active conservation by the
key fishing states. FAO already has a major programme
for sharks, and we hope that, like CITES, we can work
with FAO in a way which helps to bring fisheries and conservation
objectives into greater convergence. Above all, we need
to re-energize shark conservation efforts, and next week's
meeting should achieve that as a minimum."
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