The IUCN/SSC Shark Specialist Group
Shark News 9: June 1997
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Editorial
A Message From the New Co-Chair of the Shark Specialist Group
I felt honoured when the SSG leadership asked me to consider taking
over from Sarah Fowler (Acting-Chair) in the new Triennium and
replacing Sonny Gruber as Chair of the SSG. Sonny is always a hard
act to follow and I did not make a commitment immediately but gave
my decision considerable thought over several months. When Sarah
agreed to serve with me as Co-Chair, I accepted the position with
enthusiasm. Sarah and Merry Camhi (Deputy-Chair) have kept the
SSG on course for the last year, and have achieved a great deal though
some contentious times.
The Past Year in Review
In April 1996, the Species Survival Commission convened an important
workshop in London for about 30 scientists from various Species
Specialist Groups to evaluate the new IUCN criteria for inclusion in
the Red List of Threatened Animals with respect to marine fishes. The
last issue of Shark News (8: 4-5, December 1996) reviewed the
discussions held and resultant elasmobranch Red List assessments
published in the 1996 Red List, as well as subsequent revisions by the
SSG. Presently, IUCN is re-evaluating its criteria, particularly for
fecund, abundant and wide-ranging species, to address the current
problems. Meanwhile, through the combined efforts of Sarah and
Merry and able contributions from may SSG regional vice-chairs and
members, the Shark Status Report and Action Plan is well on its way
to completion. Those of you who have outstanding species status
reports, please send them to Sarah or Merry ASAP.
Another major activity that occupied the SSG in 1996 was to
evaluate various proposals and other supporting documents regarding
elasmobranchs that were to be presented to the CITES Animals
Committee. At our Brisbane meeting a US National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS) Draft Discussion Paper An Overview of Impact: the
Biological Status of Shark Species, facilitated by Andy Oliver for
CITES, was reviewed, edited and approved by the SSG. A proposal
initiated by Sid Cook and Madeline Oetinger and presented by the
US Fish and Wildlife Service to list all sawfish species under CITES
Appendix I (complete international trade restriction) was reviewed
and approved. (The SSG defines all sawfish species as threatened with
extinction in their species assessments.) In addition, an outline was
developed to provide a more complete SSG review of shark ecology
and population dynamics for the CITES Animals Committee, with
helpful suggestions from Hank Jenkins, Chair of that Committee. This
review was expanded and completed, mostly by Sarah Fowler and
Merry Camhi, and presented as a report The Implications of Biology
for the Conservation and Management of Sharks from the IUCN to the
Animals Committee at their meeting in Prague, Czech Republic, in
September. The CITES Animals Committee used the NMFS and IUCN
documents, along with a paper on shark trade prepared by TRAFFIC
and other contributions, as the basis for their own report Biological
and Trade Status of Sharks, much of which was derived from the SSG
document. Many of the SSG members have reviewed and commented
on the CITES report, which will be presented to the Meeting of the
Parties of CITES in Zimbabwe in June.
The Year Ahead
At the time of writing Sarah and I are preparing to travel to Harare,
Zimbabwe, as part of the IUCN delegation to the CITES meeting, and
Merry on behalf of the Living Oceans Program. We will be there to
provide scientific support for the proposal to list sawfishes under
Appendix I, and a proposed resolution from the US to establish a
CITES Marine Fish Working Group.
After the CITES meeting, an SSG meeting will be held during the
Annual Meeting of the American Elasmobranch Society in Seattle,
Washington, at the end of June. The focus of the meeting will be to
review progress of the Status Report and Action Plan, and specifically
to work on the Action points for the latter. Please be thinking about
what actions need to be taken, especially at a global scale, to ensure
prudent management and conservation of chondrichthyan fishes. In
addition we will discuss the FAO Experts Consultation on Sharks to be
held in 1998 and recommended revisions to the IUCN Red List
Criteria to make them more applicable to sharks and other marine
fishes.
We plan to convene another SSG meeting at the Indo-Pacific
conference in Noumea, New Caledonia in November 1997 to work
further on Action Items and other issues. The SSG has met in
conjunction with the Indo-Pacific Fish Conference at the last meeting
in Bangkok. This year's meeting will provide an opportunity for SSG
members from that region to provide their input to the Status Report
and Action Plan.
Other SSG activities in the coming year include a regional shark
management workshop to be held in Sabah, Malaysia, in early July,
organised by Sarah Fowler with the Sabah Department of Fisheries
and Institute for Development Studies. Sarah has been serving as the
PI of a research program, supported by the Darwin Initiative (UK), on
the biodiversity and conservation of elasmobranchs in Sabah. Several
SSG members from the region and elsewhere will be participating.
The year 1997 is the beginning of a new triennium for all IUCN
Species Specialist Groups. With this renewal comes a critical review
of the SSG membership roles, deletion of inactive members, and
addition of new members. Members who have not participated in the
SSG efforts in recent years will not be reappointed, but will continue
to receive Shark News. If you wish to retain your membership and plan
to contribute actively to our work to the end of the century, please
contact Sarah or Merry. I look forward to working with all of you in
fostering the role of science in the conservation of sustainable
chondrichthyan resources.
J.A. Musick, Virginia Institute of Marine Science,
Gloucester Point, VA 23062, USA.
Fax: (1) 804 642 7327.
Email: jmusick@vims.edu
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