From March 4th to March 13th, the Sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) will be held in Bangkok, Thailand.
CITES works by subjecting international trade in specimens of selected species to certain controls. All import, export, re-export and introduction from the many species covered by the Convention has to be authorized through a licensing system. Each Party to the Convention must designate one or more Management Authorities in charge of administering that licensing system and one or more Scientific Authorities to advise them on the effects of trade on the status of the species.
The species covered by CITES are listed in three Appendices, according to the degree of protection they need. (For additional information on the number and type of species covered by the Convention click here.)
There are a number of shark listing proposals, including porbeagle, and one for manta, coming up for debate. This will be the third time that Germany has tried to list the porbeagle, listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Let’s all hope that it’s third time lucky!
Proposals for amendment of Appendices I and II for elasmobranchii are for:
Carcharhinus longimanus Oceanic whitetip shark
Sphyrna lewini, S. mokarran and S. zygaena Scalloped hammerhead shark, great hammerhead shark and smooth hammerhead shark
Lamna nasus Porbeagle shark (this is the third time that Germany has tried to list the porbeagle)
Pristis microdon Freshwater sawfish
Manta spp. Manta rays
Paratrygon aiereba Ceja river stingray
Potamotrygon motoro and P. schroederi Ocellate river stingray and rosette river stingray
We will keep of course keep you posted about CITES developments!
