A ‘Historic’ Move is Made to Protect Sharks

(Tiger Shark)

Edited by Michelle Ho

Nearly 200 countries have voted to regulate the global trade in shark fins in what is being considered a ‘conservation milestone’. Under this bill, more than 50 sharks will be granted protection from exploitation, which covers the requiem shark family, tiger sharks, and six species of hammerhead sharks.

The vote was made in Cites' 19th Conference of the Parties (COP19) located in Panama. Under this vote, it seeks to give the sharks a ‘fighting chance’ at survival by adding them to the list of animals protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Within these countries, the UK was one of the leading countries aiming for the sharks’ protection to be listed and has put forward four million euros in funding for wildlife conservation.

Losing sharks would be detrimental to the health of oceans, as they are at the top of the food chains. Unfortunately, across the last few decades, sharks have been pushed to the edge of extinction as a result of overfishing in the shark fin trade to make shark fin soup. By listing them on Cites, a country that wishes to trade such products would have to issue a permit to exporters, and present a document to show that scientists have proved the listings would not damage the wild populations.

Aside from sharks, countries also met to debate new proposals to protect turtles, songbirds and other species. Luke Warwick, the director of shark and ray conservation at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said in a statement; "The proposals adopted today for the requiem and hammerhead sharks, championed by the government of Panama, will forever change how the world's ocean predators are managed and protected."

Bibiography

• https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63670072

• https://www.positive.news/society/positive-news-stories-from-week-47-of-2022/