But until last week, there were no international controls to regulate the trade of these species, despite growing demand for their livers.
This has now changed through the latest decisions adopted at CITES, which Warwick described as a turning point in marine conservation.
Over its 50-year history, the convention has focused on protecting iconic land species like elephants, rhinos, primates and parrots, or charismatic marine species like sea turtles, Warwick said. By 1981, CITES placed an international ban on all international trade in sea turtles, which Warwick credits with helping some species make a remarkable comeback over the past few decades. Only in the last 10 years, Warwick said, has the convention gradually begun to recognize sharks and rays with equal alacrity.
At COP20 this year, all proposed protections for sharks and rays were adopted, largely with the unanimous support of CITES’s 185 member states and the European Union, something Warwick said had never happened before.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, the EU is one of the top suppliers of shark meat to Southeast and East Asian markets, with its imports and exports accounting for more than 20 percent of the global shark meat trade.
Gulper sharks, which are targeted for their liver, as well as smoothhound and tope sharks, which are caught primarily for their meat, were listed under Appendix II of CITES. Each list includes several species – 20 species of gulper sharks and 30 species of smoothhounds – grouped together because their products cannot be reliably separated in trade.
Listing requires all CITES parties to strictly regulate international trade of the species and demonstrate whether it is traceable and biologically sustainable. Some species, including wedgefish and giant guitarfish – large shark-like rays that are targeted for their highly prized fins – are now protected by a temporary suspension of trade.
Others, such as oceanic whitetips, whale sharks, mantas and devil rays can no longer be traded internationally at all. Under the new protections, CITES now lists them as an Appendix I species, meaning they face real extinction risk due to trade and are afforded the treaty’s highest level of protection.
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