Shark Stewards is joining the Shark Specialist Group with the Shark Research Institute to advocate and support new listings of sharks and rays at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna & Flora (CITES) Convention of the Parties (CoP19) in Panama, November 14-25, 2022.
Over 75 species of sharks and rays are being newly listed to Appendix II including several critically endangered species impacted by overfishing, loss of habitat and mislabeled/misidentified or obfuscated as look-alike species mixed in the shark fin trade with more common species
This year at CoP19 we are working to list three major families of sharks under Appendix II to help protect blue sharks, hammerhead sharks, reef sharks and guitarfish from the shark fin trade. Many of these species are endangered and are considered look-alike species, meaning they are categorized as a species that is so similar the parts (in this case fins) are easily confused with others making detection and enforcement difficult. Listing these species will help regulators enforce and countries better manage trade and fishing of endangered and threatened sharks and rays.
I Bonnethead Shark (Sphyrna tiburo)
Hammerhead sharks Sphyrnidae spp. PROPOSED LISTING ALL MEMBERS OF FAMILY
Distribution: S. tiburo: occurs in the Western Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Oceans.
• Population: S. tiburo: Endangered (IUCN 2019), global population reduction of 50–79% over the past 3 generations (36 years). S. tudes, S. corona and S. media: all Critically Endangered (IUCN 2020).
• Threats: Primarily from over-exploitation but exacerbated by habitat degradation/loss.
• Trade: S. tiburo has increased in the global fin market as demand for less-expensive, smaller fins is increasing.[1].
Fins are increasingly found in trade, as detailed in AC30 Inf. 14.
• Current listing of 3 species in the Family since 2013 leaves others vulnerable to trade.
• Listing the entire Family greatly facilitates enforcement.
Meets criteria for Appendix II (RC 9.24 (Rev. CoP17), criterions A and B, Annex 2(a)
▪ high levels of international trade
▪ trade levels already caused population decline
▪ required to ensure that the harvest from the wild is not reducing the wild population to a level at which its survival might be threatened by continued harvesting or other influences.
And criterion A of Annex 2 (b):
▪ enforcement officers will be unlikely to be able to distinguish between them
II Requiem sharks
Carcharinidae (19 lead species) including uplifting of oceanic whitecap sharks (Carcharhinus longimanus) to Appendix I dues to severe overfishing, loss as bycatch and the shark fin trade.
• At least 35 species in the Family have been documented in Hong Kong fin markets, representing 46% of all species.
• New research shows that 37% of shark species are now threatened with extinction, the second highest threatened percentage among vertebrate groups on the planet (IUCN 2021).
• Listing the entire Family greatly facilitates enforcement.
Distribution: Together the 19 lead species have a global distribution.
• Population: The 19 lead species are all classified as Critically Endangered or Endangered (IUCN 2019, 2020, 2021).
• Threats: Primary threat to these species is unsustainable and unregulated fisheries and retention for the global fin and meat trade.
• Trade: The lead species were all found in a study of the global fin trade,[1],[2],[3],[4] with several found in very large numbers.
The lead species are likely to all meet the criteria for an Appendix I listing with widespread declines exceeding 70%, and in some cases regional extinction.
• Listing the entire Family greatly facilitates enforcement.The 19 lead species meet criteria for Appendix II (RC 9.24 (Rev. CoP17), criterions A and B, Annex 2(a)
▪ high levels of international trade
▪ trade levels already caused population decline
▪ required to ensure that harvest from the wild is not reducing the wild population to a level at which its survival might be threatened by continued harvesting or trade.
LEAD SPECIES
Grey reef shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos),
Dusky shark (C. obscurus),
Smalltail shark (C. porosus),
Ganges shark (Glyphis gangeticus),
Sandbar shark (C. plumbeus),
Borneo shark (C. borneensis),
Pondicherry shark (C. hemiodon),
Smoothtooth blacktip shark (C. leiodon),
Sharptooth lemon shark (Negaprion acutidens),
Caribbean reef shark (C. perezi),
Daggernose shark (Isogomphodon oxyrhynchus),
Night shark (C. signatus),
Whitenose shark (Nasolamia velox),
Blacknose shark (C. acronotus),
Whitecheek shark (C. dussumieri),
Lost shark (C. obsoletus),
Pacific smalltail shark (C. cerdale),
Borneo broadfin shark (Lamiopsis tephrodes)
Broadfin shark (Lamiopsis temminckii)
in Appendix II in accordance with Article II paragraph 2(a)
of the Convention and satisfying Criterion A and B in Annex 2a of Resolution
Conf. 9.24 (Rev. CoP17). Inclusion of all other species in the family
Carcharhinidae (requiem sharks): Genus Carcharhinus, Genus Isogomphodon, Genus
Loxodon, Genus Nasolamia, Genus Lamiopsis, Genus Negaprion, Genus Prionace,
Genus Rhizoprionodon, Genus Scoliodon, Genus Triaenodon and any other putative
species of family Carcharhinidae in Appendix II in accordance with Article II
paragraph 2(b) of the Convention and satisfying Criterion A in Annex 2b of Resolution
Conf. 9.24 (Rev. CoP17).
III Rhinobatidae
These are the small guitarfish, a kind of ray. Many of these rays have lost habitat, are killed in trawls as bycatch and like the requiem sharks are confused and mislabeled in the shark fin trade. Out of the 37 species belonging to the Family Rhinobatidae, 23 are assessed as threatened under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, including ten as Critically Endangered (CR). Six Critically Endangered (CR) species are proposed for listing under Appendix II. Due to similarities in appearance of traded products and the IUCN Red List classification of many other species as threatened, all remaining species in the family Rhinobatidae are included as lookalikes in this proposal.
The six lead species of this proposal are:
· Stripenose guitarfish (Acroteriobatus variegatus)
· Brazilian guitarfish (Pseudobatos horkelii)
· Whitespotted guitarfish (Rhinobatos albomaculatus)
· Spineback guitarfish (R. irvinei)
· Common guitarfish (R. rhinobatos)
· Brown guitarfish (R. schlegelii)
IV Freshwater Rays (Brazil)
Several species of threatened and endangered freshwater rays have been proposed for Appendix II listing under CITES. This section is in development.
[1] Cardeñosa, D., Shea, K.H., Zhang, H., Feldheim, K., Fischer, G.A. and Chapman, D.D. 2020b. Small fins, large trade: a snapshot of the species composition of low-value shark fins in the Hong Kong markets. Animal Conservation 23: 203–211.
[2] Fields, A. T. et al. Species composition of the international shark fin trade assessed through a retail-market survey in Hong Kong. Conserv. Biol. 32, 376–389 (2018).
[3] Cardeñosa, D. et al. CITES-listed sharks remain among the top species in the contemporary fin trade. Conserv. Lett. 43, e12457–e12467 (2018).
[4] Cardeñosa, D., Fields, A.T., Babcock, E.A. et al. Species composition of the largest shark fin retail-market in mainland China. Sci Rep 10, 12914 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-69555-1.
RELEVANT RESEARCH AND RESOURCES
Pacoureau, N., Rigby, C.L., Kyne, P.M. et al. Half a century of global decline in oceanic sharks and rays. Nature 589, 567–571 (2021)
MacNeil, M.A., Chapman, D.D., Heupel, M. et al. Global status and conservation potential of reef sharks. Nature 583, 801–806 (2020)
IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group Global Shark Trends Project 2018-2020
Fields, A.T., Fischer, G.A., Shea, S.K.H., Zhang, H., Abercrombie, D.L., Feldheim, K.A., Babcock, E.A. and Chapman, D.D. (2018), Species composition of the international shark fin trade assessed through a retail-market survey in Hong Kong. Conservation Biology, 32: 376-389