The IUCN/SSC Shark Specialist Group
Shark News 1: June 1994
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Welcome to the newsletter of the IUCN Shark
Specialist Group
The aim of this publication is to provide a forum for exchange of
information on all aspects of chondrichthyan conservation matters, it will
enable Shark Group members to pass on information on developments
in their regions and news of issues which may require consideration by
the Group (e.g. developments in fisheries, legislation, and trade), and
provide information on these subjects to other readers.
We intend to publish articles dealing with shark, skate, ray and
chimaerid fisheries, conservation and population status issues around the
world; circulate information on other relevant journals, publications,
scientific papers and meetings; and alert readers to current threats to the
group.
Since this is our first issue, we would greatly appreciate your
comments on its content, suggestions for future issues and letters, articles,
etc. for inclusion. We hope to produce SHARK NEWS on a four-monthly
or quarterly basis, dependent upon receiving sufficient material for
inclusion and obtaining funding for publication and circulation.
This first issue has generously been sponsored by English Nature, the
statutory nature conservation agency for the wildlife and natural features
of the whole of the English countryside and seas (see page 8).
© 1989 by Sid F. Cook. All rights reserved.
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Shark Specialist Group News
The last meeting of the Shark Specialist Group was held during the Fourth
Indo-Pacific Fish Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, in November/
December 1993. The following items were discussed.
Mission Statement
The Shark Group mission statement was agreed as follows: 'To ensure
the healthy and continued diversity of sharks and related species (the
skates, rays and chimaeras) through the promotion of sustainable use,
wise management and conservation.'
Shark Specialist Group Strategy and Tactics
The Strategy was defined under the following headings:
i Making the case for conservation;
ii Identifying the problems and threats faced by chondrichthyans;
iii Identifying the actions needed to achieve the Shark Special ist Group's
mission;
iv Following up these actions.
Tactics include compilation and implementation of the Action Plan,
fund-raising, education (particularly through the media), strengthening
marine non-governmental organisations and influencing decision-makers.
Action Plan
The Action Plan will be an importanttool for the SSG in achieving the first
three elements of the above strategy. It will summarise existing data on
the need for the conservation of chondrichthyans, identify gaps in
knowledge and priorities for action, and publish this information for the
first time. It is being compiled and edited by Sarah Fowler, with assistance
from Merry Camhi and input from other members of the Shark Group.
The agreed time table for production of the Action Plan was for the
first draft to be circulated to contributors by the end of April 1994, second
draft by the end of July and final draft by the end of September-dates are
already slipping. Provided that agreement on content of each draft can be
achieved in time, the publication date should be at the end of 1994.
Many contributors have asked for copies of the Cetacean Action
Plan to be made available to them for reference when drafting their
sections of the Shark Action Plan. Unfortunately, the first version of the
Cetacean Plan is now out of print and the updated version is now not due
to be published until the end of 1994.
Trade in shark products
The establishment of a Trade Sub-Group has been agreed to, in order to
enable more data on international trade in shark products to be acquired
for the Action Plan and other SSG activities. This Group will be coordinated
by Sonja Fordham (Center for Marine Conservation - CMC) and chaired
by Roger McManus (CMC), with input from Glen Sant (representing
TRAFFIC International).
TRAFFIC will be undertaking a study in 1994 of trade in shark
products, particularly fins, to enable an assessment of the scale of shark
fisheries and international trade to be made. Results will be reported in
SHARK NEWS, when available.
Customs data recently received from Hong Kong have demonstrated
the large scale of the international trade in shark fins to east Asia. In 1991,
4,105 metric tonnes o fdried/salted fins and 167 tonnes of boiled fins were
imported to Hong Kong. Depending on the conversion figures used,
this may represent in the region of 300,000 to 600,000 tonnes of whole
shark, or very roughly about 10 million sharks' fin sets. This probably
accounts for more than half of the world fin trade.
The IUCN Red List
The latest issue of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals was
published in early 1994. It comprises a list (inevitably incomplete) of
some thousands of taxa considered by IUCN to be threatened with
extinction. The aim of the Red List is to act as an international bulletin
alerting people to the diminishment of biodiversity worldwide. New
editions are published on a regular basis, and the list is compiled and
updated for IUCN by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre,
Cambridge, UK.
The three chondrichthyan fishes first listed in the 1990 issue also
appear in the 1994 edition. These are the whale shark (listed as
'Indeterminate' - known to be 'Endangered', 'Vulnerable' or 'Rare', but
with not enough information to say which category is appropriate), the
great white shark and the basking shark (these two were listed as
Insufficiently known', which indicates that they are suspected as belonging
to one of the above three categories).
One of the tasks of the Shark Specialist Group will be to attempt to
update listings for elasmobranchs. New criteria for listing species on the
IUCN Red List have been presented in Species 19,16-22 (the Newletter
of the Species Survival Commission), December 1992, and these are now
to be evaluated for their viability for listing elasmobranchs, with suggestions
to be sent to IUCN SSC by the end of 1994. The SSC has requested
assessments of the status of elasmobranchs by July 1996 for the next Red
List publication in November 1996.
CITES
The Group has discussed the possible role of the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in conserving
endangered chondrichthyan species by controlling their international
trade. (Appendix I of CITES lists those species for which international
trade is generally not permitted, while trade in Appendix II species is
monitored by countries which are signatories of the Convention, thus
enabling the scale of this trade, and countries of origin and destination to
be recorded. The lists are reviewed at CITES meetings every few years.)
Past efforts by the National Audubon Society (USA) to obtain CITES
listings for certain large sharks have been unsuccessful. There are
particular problems with listing commercially-fished species, since fishing
nations tend to resist vigorously such proposals. It is also important to be
able to justify the 'endangered' status of species proposed for listing,
which is likely to be very difficult for many elasmobranchs because, of
lack of population data, and it must be demonstrated that international
trade is one of the problems causing the listed species to be endangered.
For a CITES listing to have a practical effect, it must be possible for
customs officers to be able positively to identify the products of the listed
species in transit between countries.
The Shark Group considers that an Appendix II CITES listing could be
very valuable in improving the availability of trade data for shark
products, and Appendix I listings for species such as the great white shark
(whose jaws are a very valuable trophy for sports fishermen) could help
to conserve them. Listing of large species of shark (which provide the most
valuable fins) would be feasible since they could be identified by customs
officers on the basis of fin size alone.
There is, however, insufficient background information currently
available to enable a successful CITES application for any shark to be
made at the forthcoming meeting in 1994. Rather, the SSG aims to be
prepared to make a well-researched application to the following meeting
in 1996. The Action Plan will address this issue.
Shark Specialist Group membership
The IUCN Species Survival Commission was reconstituted at the
beginning of its latest triennium which began in 1994. All Specialist
Groups have had to be re-established, with the appointment of their
Chairmen by the SSC. Dr Sonny Gruber has been re-appointed as
Chairman of the Shark Group and is now in the process of formally
appointing all his Regional Vice-Chairs and other members. Carl Safina
(with Merry Camhi a de facto co-deputychair) is Deputy Chairman for the
Americas, Australia and Oceania and Sarah Fowler is Deputy Chairman
for Eurasia and Africa. These two are the first point of contact for most
communications to/from the Vice-Chairmen or others in their respective
areas.
Regional Vice-Chairmen and other members will be listed in a later
issue of this Newsletter. Some positions are currently empty due to
resignations and individuals are still needed to fill these. There are also
gaps in membership for areas of some other regions, particularly Northern
Africa and South and Central America.
Chairman: Dr Samuel H. Gruber, Bimini Biological Field Station,
University of Miami, RSMAS, 9300 SW 99 Street, Miami, Florida 33176-
2050, USA. Fax: (+1) 305 274 0628.
Deputy Chair (Eurasia and Africa): Sarah Fowler, The Nature
Conservation Bureau, 36 Kingfisher Court, Hambridge Road, Newbury,
Berkshire RG14 5SJ, UK. Email: 100347.1526@compuserve.com. Fax:
(+44)635 550230.
Deputy Chair (Americas and Oceania): Dr Carl Safina and Dr Merry
Camhi, National Audubon Society, Scully Science Center, 550 South Bay
Avenue, Islip, NY 11751, USA. Fax: (+1) 516 5815268. Email:
internet:merry.camhi@audubon-ny.smtcn.langate.sprint.com.
Vanishing sawfishes?
Alarming news is beginning to come in on the status of inshore sawfish
populations around the world. Julio Moron reports that there have
apparently been no records along the west coast of Sri Lanka for about 40
years, although sawfishes were relatively common some 50-60 years
ago. It seems that all four of the species formerly recorded in the area have
virtually disappeared. Compagno and Cook (J. Aquaricult. Aquatic Sci.
in press) note that it is difficult to obtain information on the status of the
freshwater population of sawfishes in Lake Nicaragua, but indications are
that the fishery here has also collapsed.
Largetooth sawfish. Artist: Sid F. Cook. © 1991 by M.I. Oetinger. All rights reserved.
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We would very much like to receive more information from readers
on this group of elasmobranchs. Do you know of any directed or indirect
fisheries for sawfishes? Are they used just for food or also for their 'saws',
and do the latter get into the international curio trade to any significant
extent? Please send any information to Merry Camhi (address on back
page).
If there is a significant international trade in sawfish 'noses' and
directed fisheries for this purpose, the Shark Specialist Group will
consider proposing a CITES listing for the group as a conservation
measure. Unfortunately,the deadline for proposals for the forthcoming
1994 CITES meeting was 10 June, and we have been unable to put
together a case in time for this. We will therefore aim to submit a
proposal to the 1996 meeting.
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