SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
A great white shark is seen swimming off the coast of Baja California, Mexico on August 13, 2014. (Photo: Elias Levy/Flickr/cc)
'Amazing News': Historic Shark Protections Approved at Global Wildlife Convention
Up to 90% of sharks targeted by the lucrative fin trade will now be protected, said one advocate.
Nov 25, 2022
Conservation advocates applauded Friday following a vote at the 19th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Panama, at which delegates from 183 countries and the European Union voted for sweeping protections for shark species.
"This landmark vote marks the culmination of a decade of shark conservation progress within CITES."
The resolution will greatly reduce the fishing industry's ability to contribute to the shark fin trade. About $500 million worth of fins are sold each year to produce shark fin soup--a delicacy popular in wealthy households in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan--with just over two pounds selling for $1,000.
The 19th Conference of the Parties of CITES voted to protect 54 more shark species, including tiger, bull, and blue sharks--some of the most targeted species for the fin trade. Six hammerhead shark species will also be protected.
The species will now be listed in the CITES Appendix II, barring trade unless it is tightly regulated and sustainable. The listing is for species that are not yet threatened with extinction but which could rapidly become more endangered without strong controls.
Louis Aguirre, a Florida-based journalist focused on environmental issues, hailed the "strongest protections ever for sharks."
\u201cAMAZING NEWS FROM #CITESCoP19 shark and ray proposals just finalized in plenary. Requiem sharks, hammerhead sharks, guitarfishes and some freshwater stingrays now protected from and fall under @CITES jurisdiction. Strongest protections ever for sharks! #CITES4Sharks\u201d— Louis Aguirre (@Louis Aguirre) 1669391832
Shirley Binder, Panamanian delegate to the conference, told Agence France Presse that up to 90% of sharks in the fin market will now be protected.
"This landmark vote marks the culmination of a decade of shark conservation progress within CITES," said Luke Warwick, director of shark and ray conservation for the Wildlife Conservation Society, in a statement. "Now, finally, the deeply unsustainable shark fin trade will be fully regulated."
The vote signified that members of CITES "are beginning to grasp the scale of the challenge required to confront the crisis facing the natural world," said Matthew Collis, deputy vice president for conservation at the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
"Over a million species are at risk of extinction if we do not change the way we treat wildlife," said Collis. "Overexploitation of species, including through international trade, is a key contributing factor to the decline of many species."
At the two-week summit, CITES member countries also voted for new protections for the guitarfish ray, glass frogs, crocodiles, and some turtle species.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Conservation advocates applauded Friday following a vote at the 19th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Panama, at which delegates from 183 countries and the European Union voted for sweeping protections for shark species.
"This landmark vote marks the culmination of a decade of shark conservation progress within CITES."
The resolution will greatly reduce the fishing industry's ability to contribute to the shark fin trade. About $500 million worth of fins are sold each year to produce shark fin soup--a delicacy popular in wealthy households in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan--with just over two pounds selling for $1,000.
The 19th Conference of the Parties of CITES voted to protect 54 more shark species, including tiger, bull, and blue sharks--some of the most targeted species for the fin trade. Six hammerhead shark species will also be protected.
The species will now be listed in the CITES Appendix II, barring trade unless it is tightly regulated and sustainable. The listing is for species that are not yet threatened with extinction but which could rapidly become more endangered without strong controls.
Louis Aguirre, a Florida-based journalist focused on environmental issues, hailed the "strongest protections ever for sharks."
\u201cAMAZING NEWS FROM #CITESCoP19 shark and ray proposals just finalized in plenary. Requiem sharks, hammerhead sharks, guitarfishes and some freshwater stingrays now protected from and fall under @CITES jurisdiction. Strongest protections ever for sharks! #CITES4Sharks\u201d— Louis Aguirre (@Louis Aguirre) 1669391832
Shirley Binder, Panamanian delegate to the conference, told Agence France Presse that up to 90% of sharks in the fin market will now be protected.
"This landmark vote marks the culmination of a decade of shark conservation progress within CITES," said Luke Warwick, director of shark and ray conservation for the Wildlife Conservation Society, in a statement. "Now, finally, the deeply unsustainable shark fin trade will be fully regulated."
The vote signified that members of CITES "are beginning to grasp the scale of the challenge required to confront the crisis facing the natural world," said Matthew Collis, deputy vice president for conservation at the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
"Over a million species are at risk of extinction if we do not change the way we treat wildlife," said Collis. "Overexploitation of species, including through international trade, is a key contributing factor to the decline of many species."
At the two-week summit, CITES member countries also voted for new protections for the guitarfish ray, glass frogs, crocodiles, and some turtle species.
Conservation advocates applauded Friday following a vote at the 19th meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Panama, at which delegates from 183 countries and the European Union voted for sweeping protections for shark species.
"This landmark vote marks the culmination of a decade of shark conservation progress within CITES."
The resolution will greatly reduce the fishing industry's ability to contribute to the shark fin trade. About $500 million worth of fins are sold each year to produce shark fin soup--a delicacy popular in wealthy households in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan--with just over two pounds selling for $1,000.
The 19th Conference of the Parties of CITES voted to protect 54 more shark species, including tiger, bull, and blue sharks--some of the most targeted species for the fin trade. Six hammerhead shark species will also be protected.
The species will now be listed in the CITES Appendix II, barring trade unless it is tightly regulated and sustainable. The listing is for species that are not yet threatened with extinction but which could rapidly become more endangered without strong controls.
Louis Aguirre, a Florida-based journalist focused on environmental issues, hailed the "strongest protections ever for sharks."
\u201cAMAZING NEWS FROM #CITESCoP19 shark and ray proposals just finalized in plenary. Requiem sharks, hammerhead sharks, guitarfishes and some freshwater stingrays now protected from and fall under @CITES jurisdiction. Strongest protections ever for sharks! #CITES4Sharks\u201d— Louis Aguirre (@Louis Aguirre) 1669391832
Shirley Binder, Panamanian delegate to the conference, told Agence France Presse that up to 90% of sharks in the fin market will now be protected.
"This landmark vote marks the culmination of a decade of shark conservation progress within CITES," said Luke Warwick, director of shark and ray conservation for the Wildlife Conservation Society, in a statement. "Now, finally, the deeply unsustainable shark fin trade will be fully regulated."
The vote signified that members of CITES "are beginning to grasp the scale of the challenge required to confront the crisis facing the natural world," said Matthew Collis, deputy vice president for conservation at the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
"Over a million species are at risk of extinction if we do not change the way we treat wildlife," said Collis. "Overexploitation of species, including through international trade, is a key contributing factor to the decline of many species."
At the two-week summit, CITES member countries also voted for new protections for the guitarfish ray, glass frogs, crocodiles, and some turtle species.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.