23–29 March 2026
Campo Grande, Brazil
The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP15) will convene to review implementation of the Convention. CMS, also known as the Bonn Convention, recognizes that States must be the protectors of migratory species that live within or pass through their national jurisdictions and aims to conserve terrestrial, marine, and avian migratory species throughout their ranges.
These proposals aim to address rapid declines driven by overfishing, bycatch in longlines and gillnets, and the international fin trade.
At the CMS COP15 conference (March 2026), key proposals include listing three thresher shark species including pelagic, bigeye, and common thresher to Appendix I for stricter protection. Due to population declines, additional sharks and rays proposed for protection include great and scalloped hammerheads, angel sharks, and wedgefishes.
Specifically, the proposals for sharks and rays include:
- Thresher Sharks (Proposed Appendix I): Pelagic thresher (Alopias pelagicus), Bigeye thresher (Alopias superciliosus), and Common thresher (Alopias vulpinus).
- Hammerhead Sharks: Proposals include strengthening protections for Great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran) and Scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini).
- Other Species: Proposals cover various angelsharks (Squatinidae), wedgefish, and guitarfish, focusing on reducing bycatch and strengthening habitat conservation
At the 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP14) added 14 new species, subspecies, and populations to the CMS Appendices. Delegates added 14 new species to the CMS Appendices, including ten to Appendix I, which comprises migratory species in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of their range. These species include the Balkan Lynx, Lahille’s Bottlenose Dolphin, Peruvian Pelican, and the Sand Tiger Shark.
The host country Brazil, announced it would ban the exports of fins from the country and it would reduce blue shark landings. Brazil is a major exporter and consumer of sharks and rays, and this sets an examples for other countries to protect these sharks before they become endangered.
Protecting migratory marine species requires urgent science-based policy, international collaboration, and sustained conservation action.
The Conference of the Parties fulfills some of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), or Global Goals, are a set of 17 interconnected goals with 169 targets adopted by all UN Member States in September 2015 to create a better world, including ending poverty, protecting the planet, and ensuring prosperity for all by 2030.
- Goal 14 – Life Below Water
- Goal 15 – Life on Land
- Goal 17 – Partnerships for the Goals
The SDG Knowledge Hub story about CMS COP14 is here.