Hammerhead sharks lose fight at UN meeting

Michael Casey Associated Press Google News 23 Mar 10;

Singapore among those voting against regulating trade in hammerheads.

DOHA, Qatar — A U.S.-backed proposal to protect the heavily fished hammerhead sharks was narrowly rejected Tuesday over concerns by Asia nations that regulating the booming trade in shark fins could hurt poor nations.

Tom Strickland, the U.S. Assistant Interior Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, said regional fisheries bodies have done nothing to regulate the trade in endangered scalloped hammerhead, great hammerhead as well as the threatened smooth hammerhead, and their numbers have dropped by as much as 85 percent.

"The greatest threat to the hammerhead is from harvest for the international fin trade and the fin of the species is among highly valued of the trade," Strickland said. Shark fin soup is a much prized delicacy in China.

The measure was only narrowly rejected, failing by five votes to take the necessary two-thirds of the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species to pass.

The tiny Pacific nation of Palau, which last year created the first ever shark sanctuary, joined the Americans in introducing the proposal. It called on countries to protect the species so they can be fished well into the future.

"We must preserve for our children these amazing species," said Palau's Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment & Tourism Harry R. Fritz, adding that his country supports the protection of other shark species as well.

Japan, which successfully campaigned against an export ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna and regulations on the coral trade, led the opposition to the shark proposal. It argued that better enforcement, not trade restrictions was the answer. It also complained it would be difficult to differentiate the hammerheads from other species and would deprive poor fishing nations of much needed income.

They were joined by other countries dependent on the trade, including Singapore and Indonesia which catches the most sharks.

CITES was due to take up similar proposals to protect the oceanic whitetip shark which is also used in the fin trade, the porbeagle shark which is also killed for its meat and the spiny dogfish shark — a chief ingredient of fish and chips and fish sticks.

Conservationist were outrage and disappointed by the ruling, since it came after a string of defeats on marine species including a proposal last week on a shark conservation plan. Japan and China led efforts to kill that proposal, as well.

Hammerheads, more than any other shark species, are killed for their fins and are the most threatened. Fishermen, both industrial and small-scale and many operating illegally, slice off the fins and throw the carcasses back in the ocean and there are as many as 2.7 million hammerheads are caught annually.

Shark fin soup has long played central part in traditional Chinese culture, often being served at weddings and banquets. Demand for the soup has surged as increasing numbers of Chinese middle class family become wealthier.

Protection for 2 shark species fails at UN meeting
Michael Casey, Associated Press 23 Mar 10;

DOHA, Qatar – Japan and China on Tuesday torpedoed proposals to protect hammerhead and oceanic whitetip sharks — heavily sought for their prized fins — in the latest victory of fishing interests over global conservation efforts.

The defeat of the U.S.-backed measures was part of an aggressive campaign by the Asian nations to oppose all marine proposals at the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. They also defeated an export ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna, a proposal to regulate the coral trade and a separate shark conservation plan.

Critics accused the countries of putting business and politics ahead of efforts to protect the sharks, which are often fished only for their fins, with their carcasses discarded.

The issue has taken on more urgency due to an increasing demand for shark fin soup as increasing numbers of Chinese middle class families become wealthier. The soup has long played central part in traditional Chinese culture, often served at weddings and banquets.

Rwanda's Fidele Ruzigandekwe, who supported the shark listing, said afterward that "science had been set aside for politics."

"It's proven that shark populations have diminished and they warrant protection," Ruzigandekwe said. "Yet, most proposals were rejected. People are not properly informed and the information is being distorted because of commercial interests."

China, Indonesia and other nations that benefit from the trade in shark fins joined the Japanese-led opposition to the proposals arguing that trade restrictions were not the answer and would be difficult to apply. The shark proposals would have for the first time regulated the trade, requiring nations to among other things track their imports and exports and the amounts they catch.

"This is not about trade issues but fisheries enforcement," Masanori Miyahara, chief counselor of the Fisheries Agency of Japan, told delegates. "Poaching is a big problem. Small-scale long liners are chasing sharks all over the world."

China said it opposed the proposals because it would be "impossible" to differentiate between regulated and unregulated shark species. It never mentioned the growing demand for shark fin soup but said the ruling would put an unnecessary burden on customs officials.

Hisashi Endo, the director of the Ecosystem and Conservation Office in the Fisheries Agency of Japan, said Tokyo was already working to protect marine species but wanted the matter to be addressed by regional fishing commissions, rather than CITES.

"We are just saying that CITES is not a good place for the conservation of marine resources," said Endo. "We already are making progress on conserving marine species."

The United States, supported by Europe, Australia and many Arab countries, said regional fisheries bodies had failed the sharks with a lack of protective measures.

Widespread illegal fishing and caused populations of the endangered scalloped hammerhead, great hammerhead and the threatened smooth hammerhead to plummet by as much as 85 percent. Oceanic whitetip sharks face similar threats and their numbers are down 60 percent to 70 percent.

The hammerhead measure was only narrowly rejected by the U.N. committee, failing by five votes to take the necessary two-thirds of majority. The whitetip proposal fell nine votes short of approval.

Tom Strickland, the head of the U.S. delegation, said it was possible they would try and revive the proposals at the larger, plenary meeting, which begins Wednesday.

"It's disappointing we didn't get the two-thirds but that is the way the rules are set up," Strickland said. "We are going to continue our efforts both here and going forward to put the necessary protection in place for these shark species."

The tiny Pacific nation of Palau, which last year created the first ever shark sanctuary, joined the Americans in introducing the shark proposals. It called on countries to protect the species so they can be fished well into the future.

"Millions of sharks are killed each year to support the global fin trade, while a significant percentage of the world's sharks are threatened or near threatened with extinction," said Palau's Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment & Tourism Harry R. Fritz, adding that his country supports the protection of other shark species as well.

Conservationists were outraged by the rulings. The meeting also defeated controls for the spiny dogfish shark, a key ingredient in European fish and chips though it did approve regulations on the trade in the porbeagle shark, which is prized mostly by Europe for its high-valued meat.

"Today is a huge loss for the oceans. This is a case of politics prevailing over science," Oceana's Fisheries Campaign Manager Elizabeth Griffin said. "The world failed to stand up today to protect some of the ocean's top predators."

Jupp Baron Kerckerinck zur Borg, president of the Shark Research Institute based in Millbrook, N.Y., acknowledged he was "very disappointed and frustrated right now."

"Japan has been voting the shark proposals down because they are catching them, Singapore voted them down because they make money selling the fins and China makes money because they eat them," he said. "How can we win?"

The Pew Environmental Group said the sharks are especially vulnerable to overfishing because they are slow growing and have low reproductive rates. Fishermen, both industrial and small-scale and many operating illegally, slice off the fins and throw the carcasses back in the ocean.

One Shark Species Wins U.N. Protection While Others Fail
Regan Doherty, PlanetArk 24 Mar 10;

A U.N. wildlife conference placed one shark species on a protective list on Tuesday but blocked efforts to do the same for other types hunted to meet mounting Asian demand for shark fin soup.

Conservationists welcomed the new protection for porbeagle sharks, which are about 2.5 meters (8 ft) long and hit by overfishing in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

But they criticized delegates at the 175-nation Convention on International trade in Endangered Species (CITES) for failing to restrict trade in several other sharks.

"Politics and economics trumped science, especially on marine conservation issues," said Matt Rand, director of global shark conservation at Pew Environment Group.

The global shark product trade was worth $310 million in 2005, according to Traffic, a wildlife trade monitoring group. Shark populations are dwindling as a result of overfishing.

The conference rejected greater trade protection for the oceanic whitetip, scalloped hammerhead, great, smooth and dusky hammerhead, sandbar and spiny dogfish sharks.

The March 13-25 conference in Doha, Qatar, previously denied bluefin tuna and red and pink coral more protective listings. A protective listing requires a two-thirds majority.

"Once again CITES has failed to listen to the scientists. The decision not to list these sharks today is a conservation catastrophe for these species," said Glenn Sant, global marine programme coordinator for Traffic.

COSTLY SOUP

One of the world's most expensive food products, a bowl of shark fin soup can cost $100, with a single fin worth more than $1,300. Up to 10 million kg of shark fin is exported annually to Hong Kong by nearly 87 countries, according to Oceana, a marine conservation group.

Demand for the soup has exploded in Asia, where an expanding middle class can now more easily afford a delicacy once reserved for the wealthy. Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and China are big shark fin consumers.

The porbeagle proposal was made by the European Union and Palau. Voting was by secret ballot but South American, European and North American nations are believed to have been in favor with many Asian nations against.

Nations exporting porbeagle meat and fins will have to ensure trade is legal and sustainable.

"Some of the biggest players are supporting a protective listing because in the end, it's not advantageous for them to oppose measures that will help preserve the species," said Anne Schroeer, economist at Oceana.

Some of the votes, including for scalloped hammerhead sharks, came close to mustering the two-thirds majority needed for protection. Supporters of a ban might try to have a repeat vote on the conference's final day, allowed under CITES rules.

Up to 73 million sharks are killed each year, primarily for their fins, according to environmental organization Greenpeace. Sharks are especially vulnerable to over-fishing because they are late to mature, long-lived and produce few young.

(Editing by Alister Doyle)

UN body rejects protection for shark species
Marlowe Hood Yahoo News 23 Mar 10;

DOHA (AFP) – The UN wildlife trade body slapped down a trio of proposals Tuesday to oversee cross-border commerce for sharks threatened with extinction through overfishing, sparking anger from conservationists.

The only marine species granted protection at a meeting of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) was the temperate zone porbeagle, a shark fished for its meat.

Earlier, bids to impose a global trade ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna and to require export monitoring for seven species of precious coral both fell well short of the required two-thirds majority.

The shark species left exposed to globally unregulated commerce were the scalloped hammerhead, the oceanic white tip and the spiny dogfish.

Millions of hammerhead and whitetip are extracted from seas each year, mainly to satisfy a burgeoning appetite for sharkfin soup, a prestige food in Chinese communities around the world.

The US proposals were rejected by a narrow margin, opening the possibility that one or both could get a second hearing on Thursday when the 13-day conference ends.

Only decades ago, the two species were among the most common of the semi-coastal and open-water sharks.

But incidental catch and demand for fins has slashed populations by 90 percent in several regions.

The fish are often tossed back into the water after their precious fins have been sliced away.

The scalloped hammerhead is listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as "vulnerable" globally, while the whitetip is "critically endangered" in the northwestern Atlantic, and "vulnerable" elsewhere.

Once the highest level of biomass in the Gulf of Mexico, the whitetip is 99 percent depleted there today, according to marine biologist Julia Baum.

Japan led opposition to the four measures, arguing that management of shark populations should be left to regional fisheries groups, not CITES.

Conservationists counter that fishing for sharks is currently unregulated.

"The problem today is not there is serious mismanagement of trade in sharks, as for tuna, but that there is no management at all," said Sue Lieberman, policy director for the Washington-based Pew Environment Group.

The proposals called for listing on CITES' Appendix II, which requires countries to monitor exports and demonstrate that fishing is done in a sustainable manner.

The scientific panel of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recommend protection for all the species except the spiny dogfish which, along with the porbeagle, was also voted down at the last CITES meeting in 2007.

Fished for its meat not its fins, stocks of porbeagle -- which gestates for nine months and can live up to 65 years -- have collapsed to about 10 percent of historic levels in the Mediterranean and the northeast Atlantic.

Conservation groups reacted angrily to the three "no" votes.

"It appears that science no longer matters," said Elizabeth Griffin of wildlife conservation group Oceana, based in Washington. "CITES is not fulfilling its obligation to protect species threatened by international trade."

Gus Sant, a shark expert at wildlife monitoring group TRAFFIC said: "The decision not to list all of these sharks is a conservation catastrophe. The current level of trade in these species is simply not sustainable."

Many NGOs said that intensive lobbying by Japan played a critical role in the measures being shot down.

"We see clearly now the Japanese motivation for opposing all these marine species proposals," said Anne Schroeer, a Madrid-based economist with Oceana.

"For the whales, they say we are catching it traditionally. For the bluefin tuna, they say we are eating it. But for the sharks, there is nothing but pure economic interest."

All told, a third of the world's 64 species of pelagic, or open water, sharks face extinction, according to a report issued last June by the IUCN's Shark Specialist Group.

Mixed fortunes for sharks at CITES
TRAFFIC 23 Mar 10;

Doha, Qatar, 23 March 2010 – Governments at a United Nations meeting on wildlife trade today voted against better international trade controls for five shark species, which are in severe decline because of overfishing for their high-value fins and meat.

The Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) governments voted against proposals to list three hammerhead sharks (Scalloped, Great and Smooth), the Oceanic Whitetip and the Spiny Dogfish in Appendix II of the Convention, which would enforce better management of the fisheries for international commercial trade and allow their declining populations to recover.

However, governments did vote to include the Porbeagle Shark – overfished primarily for its meat and fins – in Appendix II.

“Once again CITES has failed to listen to the scientists. The decision not to list all of these sharks today is a conservation catastrophe for these species,” said Glenn Sant, Global Marine Programme Co-ordinator for TRAFFIC.

“Populations of these sharks have declined by more than 90% in some areas, many of them caught illegally and destined to end up in the shark-fin trade. They are targeted because of their high value.”

“The current level of trade in these species is simply not sustainable.”

The rejection of three of the four sharks proposals follows the failure of other marine proposals at CITES last week to introduce stronger trade restrictions for Red and Pink corals, and an outright ban on the international commercial trade of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna – both despite overwhelming scientific evidence that additional protection for these species is needed.

“These marine species are in dire need of stronger trade protections and sound management. We will continue to fight for this,” said Carlos Drews, Director, Species Programme, WWF International.

“The vitality of our oceans upon which millions of people depend, relies on healthy populations of species such as sharks and corals.”

The sharks discussed at today’s meeting are particularly vulnerable to overfishing because they are all slow growing, late to mature, long-living and produce few young, which means it is difficult for populations to recover from overfishing.

CITES turns down most bids to reel in shark overfishing
WWF 23 Mar 10;

Doha, Qatar – Governments of a United Nations meeting on wildlife trade today voted against better international trade controls for five shark species, which are in severe decline because of overfishing for their high-value fins and meat.

The Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) governments voted against proposals to list three hammerhead sharks (scalloped, great and smooth), the oceanic whitetip and the spiny dogfish on Appendix II of the Convention, which would enforce better management of the fishery for international commercial trade and allow their declining populations to recover.

However, governments did vote to include the porbeagle shark – overfished primarily for its meat and fins – on Appendix II.

“Once again CITES has failed to listen to the scientists. The decision not to list all of these sharks today is a conservation catastrophe for these species,” said Glenn Sant, Global Marine Programme Co-ordinator for TRAFFIC.

“Populations of these sharks have declined by more than 90% in some areas, many of them caught illegally and destined to end up in the shark-fin trade. They are targeted because of their high value.”

“The current level of trade in these species is simply not sustainable.”

The proposals’ rejection follows the failure of other proposals at CITES last week to introduce stronger trade restrictions for red and pink corals, and an outright ban on the international commercial trade of Atlantic bluefin tuna – both despite overwhelming scientific evidence that additional protection for these species is needed.

“These marine species are in dire need of stronger trade protections and sound management. We will continue to fight for this,” said Carlos Drews, Director, Species Programme, WWF International. “The vitality of our oceans upon which millions of people depend, relies on healthy populations of species such as sharks and corals.”

The sharks discussed at today’s meeting are particularly vulnerable to overfishing because they are all slow growing, late to mature, long-living and produce few young, which means it is difficult for populations to recover from overfishing.

TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, is a joint program of WWF and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The 15th meeting of CITES governments began March 13 and ends on Thursday, and will consider proposals related to dozens of species and species trade issues.

Only one in four shark proposals adopted at CITES
IUCN 23 Mar 10;

Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) voted in favour of only one of four proposals to list shark species under CITES Appendix II, which requires international trade to be monitored and regulated.

A European Union proposal to list the porbeagle shark – a close relative of the great white shark – on Appendix II was adopted by a 67 per cent majority with 86 Parties in favour and 42 opposed. Proposals to list hammerhead, oceanic whitetip, and spiny dogfish sharks failed to achieve the required two-thirds majority of votes.

“The porbeagle shark is in demand for its high value meat, which is particularly popular in Europe - both meat and fins are traded internationally,” says Sonja Fordham, Deputy Chair of IUCN/SSC Shark Specialist Group. “Fisheries statistics and stock assessments show marked declines or complete population collapses in all areas where the data is available.”

Unsustainable fishing and population collapses of porbeagle are particularly well documented for the North Atlantic. Declining population trends have also been demonstrated for the Southern hemisphere.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ classifies the Porbeagle Shark as Vulnerable globally, Critically Endangered in the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea, Endangered in the Northwest Atlantic and Near Threatened in the Southern Ocean.

“All of the shark species proposed for listing at this Conference are exceptionally vulnerable to overexploitation due to life history characteristics - such as slow growth, late maturity, and small number of young - and yet are subject to few fishing restrictions,” adds Fordham.

Analyses by IUCN and TRAFFIC concluded that all of the shark species proposed for listing at this Conference of the Parties meet the criteria for listing under Appendix II.

The Conference of the Parties concludes on Thursday. Decisions made in Committee can be revisited during the final Plenary sessions.

The proposals for porbeagle and spiny dogfish shark were developed by the EU while the hammerhead and oceanic whitetip shark proposals were offered by the US. Palau co-sponsored both proposals.

The IUCN/SSC Shark Specialist Group has held 13 regional and thematic workshops around the world in order to assess the threat status of more than 1,000 sharks and their relatives using the IUCN Red List Criteria and Categories.