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CITES Cop15 Doha
The 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was held from 13 - 25 March in Doha (Qatar). It was attended by approximately 1,200 participants from 150 governments and numerous observer organizations. This intense two-week meeting of the Convention closed without agreeing on new trade measures to protect marine species.
Proposals to include shark species in CITES Appendix II were rejected. They regarded Sphyrna lewini, S. mokkarran, S. zygaena, Carcharhinus plumbeus, C. obscurus, C. longimanus, Lamna nasus and Squalus acanthias. The scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini), the oceanic whitetip (Carcharhinus longimanus), the porbeagle (Lamna nasus) and the spiny dogfish or mud shark (Squalus acanthias) - four shark species of great commercial value – proposed to be included into CITES were not added and can therefore continue to be traded. Another proposal introduced by Monaco concerning the bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) was also rejected. The spiny dogfish and the bluefin tuna, two species that are already under intense fishing pressure in the Mediterranean sea, will therefore continue to be exploited by local and international fisheries without control of the CITES. In the IUCN Red List of threatened species the spiny dogfish is classified as Vulnerable globally and Endangered in the Mediterranean Sea. Stocks around Europe have decreased by at least 95%, whereas the bluefin tuna is being assessed for the next red list that will be soon released.
The next meeting of the CITES, COP 16 will be held in 2013 in Thailand.
