Support Increasing International Protection for Endangered Sharks at CITES CoP20

As a U.S. nongovernmental organization Shark Stewards will attend CoP20 as a participant advancing the Oceanic Whitetip shark, Whale shark and Gulper Sharks. In addition we will be advancing the proposal with Mexico to increase Hammerhead sharks to Appendix I: the highest level of protection for trade available.

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Pacific Tuna Fisheries Managers to Consider Bycatch Reduction for Oceanic Sharks

At the IATTC Shark Stewards Director David McGuire addressed the forum on the plight of oceanic whitetip sharks and posed the solution offered by the Hawai’i Longline Association and Western and Central Pacific Fishing Commission’s move to swap out wire leaders for monofilament so that captured sharks can bite free, while the target species of swordfish and tuna are still retained. 

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The Weird, Wild and Nearly Extinct Sawfish

Currently in the news is an account of unusual spinning behavior and deaths in an Unusual Mortality Event, potentially attributed to a neurological pathogen off the coast of Florida. The global populations of all five sawfish species have experienced historic declines greater than 90% due to fisheries overexploitation (directed and bycatch) and habitat loss. Consequently, three species are listed on the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered, and two species are listed as Endangered. There is a very real risk that these unique species will be lost without urgent conservation action

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‘Walking shark’ Protected in Indonesia

The study, titled “Walking, Swimming, or Hitching a Ride”, was published in the journal Marine and Freshwater Research examined nine known species of walking sharks and make interesting hypothesis about their evolution. The sharks evolved the ability to walk and survive in low oxygen environments because it helped them forage for food in environments where other sharks couldn’t survive. 

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New Guide to Species Proposals at CITES

This year delegates and scientists will convene to consider increasing international trade protection for hundreds of species of plants and animals under CITES, a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of international trade. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) entered into force in 1975, and became the only treaty to ensure that international trade in plants and animals does not threaten their survival in the wild. A State or country that has agreed to implement the Convention is called a Party to CITES. Currently there are 184 Parties, including 183 member countries and the European Union.

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