8 March 2013: At an event in Bangkok, Thailand, held on the sidelines of the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP 16), representatives from Ecuador, Germany and the US described progress toward protecting sharks and meeting their international obligations under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) Sharks Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The side event was organized by the CMS.

At the meeting, Germany noted that the Spiny dogfish is fully protected in European Union (EU) waters, and highlighted its commitment of €300,000 for research on this species and other vulnerable sharks. Germany also outlined the EU proposal to list the Porbeagle shark on Appendix II of CITES. The US encouraged countries to join the Sharks MoU and interested organizations to become cooperating partners. Ecuador and Brazil described the scientific basis for their proposal to list Manta rays on CITES Appendix I, in line with its existing listing on both Appendices of CMS.

Melanie Virtue, CMS, emphasized that 114 CITES Parties, which are also CMS Parties, have already committed to protect the rays through a “no take” provision of CMS Appendix I.

Rebecca Regnery, Humane Society International (HSI), a cooperating partner to the CMS Sharks MOU, outlined her recent work in China to raise awareness of the vital role sharks play in marine ecosystems. Sonja Fordham, Shark Advocates and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC) Shark Specialist Group, called on: countries to join CMS and its Sharks MOU; signatories to lead on initiatives to implement their conservation plans; and CMS parties to ensure effective implementation of CMS obligations for sharks, including strict protection measures for Giant Manta rays, basking, whale and white sharks. [IISD RS Sources] [CMS Sharks MoU news]