International Plan of Action for the Conservation & Management of Sharks1
Andrea Oliver, Glenn Sant and Sarah Fowler
Background
In 1994, the 9th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES) adopted a Resolution on the Biological and Trade Status of
Sharks in response to growing concerns that some shark species are
overexploited due to increases in the international trade in shark
parts. Inter alia, this Resolution requested
FAO and other international fisheries
management organisations to establish
programmes to collate biological and trade
data on sharks in cooperation with all nations
utilising and trading shark products.
In response to the issues highlighted
during implementation of the CITES
resolution, members of the FAO Committee
on Fisheries (COFI) requested in 1997 that
FAO, in collaboration with the governments
of Japan and the United States, organise an
expert Consultation on the conservation
and management of sharks. The objectives
of the Consultation were:
- to determine the specific requirements
for sustainable global and regional
management of shark species;
- to develop guidelines for such
management; and
- to develop a Plan of Action aimed at
promoting the widespread use of these
guidelines by appropriate management
bodies and arrangements at national,
regional and/or international levels.
In late 1997 a series of workshops developed regional strategies
for shark conservation and management, and contributed to
background information presented to the April 1998 meeting of the
Technical Working Group in Tokyo, to the Guidelines currently in
preparation, and to the Draft International Plan of Action for Sharks.
Aims of a National Shark-Plan
- Ensure that shark catches from directed and non-directed
fisheries are sustainable.
- Assess threats to shark populations, determine and
protect critical habitats and implement harvesting
strategies consistent with the principles of biological
sustainability and rational long-term economic use.
- Identify and pay special attention, in particular, to
vulnerable or threatened species.
- Improve and develop frameworks for establishing and
coordinating effective consultation involving all
stakeholders in research, management and educational
initiatives within and between States.
- Minimise unutilised incidental catches of sharks.
- Contribute to the protection of biodiversity and
ecosystem structure and function.
- Minimise waste and discards from shark fisheries in
accordance with paragraph 7.2.2.g of the Code of
Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (e.g. requiring the
retention of sharks from which fins are removed).
- Encourage full use of dead sharks.
- Facilitate improved species-specific catch and landings
data and monitoring of shark fisheries.
- Facilitate the identification and reporting of species-specific
biological and trade data.
October 1998 Consultation
Following a preparatory meeting in July 1998, at FAO in Rome, the
Consultation culminated at the end of October, when world
governments met in Rome to discuss the Management of Fishing
Capacity, Shark Fisheries, and Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline
Fisheries. The meeting considered and finalised text of International
Plans of Action (IPOA) for sharks and seabirds, and agreed Elements
of an International Instrument for the Management of Fishing Capacity.
These documents will be submitted for endorsement by consensus at
the FAO COFI meeting in February 1999, and adoption by the FAO
Conference in November 1999.
Heading the IUCN delegation to the October FAO Consultation
was John Waugh (IUCN Washington), with other delegation members
Sarah Fowler (co-chair IUCN Shark Specialist Group) and Glenn Sant
(TRAFFIC network). Other Shark Specialist Group members, including
Mathieu Ducrocq (IUCN Mauritania), attended as part of some FAO
member State delegations. The CITES Secretariat and Animals
Committee was represented at the meeting.
Following much debate, States eventually reached a consensus
on the text for the IPOA for the Conservation and Management of
Sharks. The IPOA-Sharks finally agreed consists of an introduction, guiding principles, framework, objective, procedures for implementation (consistent with the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing), and Appendices listing the suggested contents of a Shark-Plan
and a Shark Assessment Report. (The text also refers to FAO
Technical Guidelines on the Conservation and Management of
Sharks by Terence Walker, now being finalised by FAO.)
The stated objective of the IPOA is "to ensure the conservation
and management of sharks and their long-term sustainable use". The introduction acknowledges the increase in effort and catch of shark fisheries over the past few decades and that shark life histories make them susceptible to overfishing. It notes that the current state of knowledge of sharks and shark fishery practices causes problems in the conservation and management of sharks due to the lack of available catch, effort,
landings and trade data, as well as limited information on biological parameters and difficulties with species identification.
The IPOA encourages States to assess
the state of shark stocks within their EEZs and those fished on the high seas. States should then determine if there is a need for them to develop a National Plan of Action for conservation and management of shark stocks ( Shark-Plan). National plans are called for if (a) directed shark fisheries exist, and /
or (b) if sharks are regularly caught in non-target
fisheries. If, after their initial assessment, a State determines there is no need for a Shark-Plan, it should review that decision regularly, but as a minimum collect data on catch, landings and trade.
States are asked to report to FAO on the
assessment conducted, and to present biennially (when reporting under the Code of Conduct), a brief summary of the Shark-Plan
and its progress, or the results of the assessment that concluded no plan was needed. This information will be made available to all concerned States. States are also encouraged to cooperate and where appropriate develop regional Shark-Plans through regional and sub-regional
fisheries management organizations or arrangements, and other forms
of cooperation. The FAO Secretariat is directed to support the
implementation of the IPOA-Sharks, including the preparation and
implementation of Shark-Plans by States, through technical assistance
projects. States are requested to have a Shark-Plan in place by the
COFI Session in 2001. The resources to be made available to FAO will
be discussed when the IPOA is presented to COFI in 1999.
Conclusions
The FAO IPOA is an important first opportunity to gain control of overfishing occurring in many shark fisheries. While entirely voluntary in nature, it identifies the actions needed for effective conservation and management of sharks. The number of States who have not only made the initial assessment under the IPOA, determining if there is a need for a Shark-Plan, but have also implemented a Shark-Plan by 2001, will reflect its success. This may have ramifications for futureactions under CITES. The next CITES meeting in Kenya in 2000 will review progress under the Resolution.
For more information
Reports of the Technical Working Group, the Preparatory Meeting
held in July, and papers for the October Consultation are posted on
the FAO Fisheries website at http://www.fao.org/waicent/faoinfo/
fishery/faocons/faocons.htm.
1 Throughout this page, the term 'sharks' includes rays and chimaeras.
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