The second meeting on International Cooperation on Migratory Sharks (SHARKS II) under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) convened from 6-8 December 2008, at UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome, Italy.

The goal of the meeting was to reach agreement on the final form of the instrument to guide the management of migratory sharks, based on two drafts of a legally-binding instrument (LBI) and a non-legally-binding instrument (NLBI) prepared by the Convention on Migratory Species and Wild Animals Secretariat, in consultation with an Intersessional Steering Group on Migratory Sharks (ISGMS). SHARKS II agreed on an NLBI in the form of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for migratory shark conservation and adopted a “Statement on the Outcome of the Meeting.” SHARKS II revised the proposed draft MoU and informally considered draft elements for the plan of action that will be developed further by July 2009, by an Inter-Sessional Drafting Group to be chaired by the US. The MoU and its plan of action are expected to be finalized and adopted at SHARKS III, to be held in The Philippines.
Among the meeting’s most contentious issues was whether to limit the MoU’s scope to the Basking, Great White and Whale Sharks that initially triggered interest in the instrument in 2005 or to include the Spiny Dogfish, Porbeagle and Shortfin and Longfin Mako Sharks that were listed on the CMS appendices at its ninth Conference of the Parties the previous week. SHARKS II agreed that the MoU will apply to the Basking, Great White and Whale Sharks, but the decision to include the other species was deferred to SHARKS III.
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