Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Alejandra Goyenechea, International Counsel

Alejandra and others who worked to gather support for the shark proposals at CITES celebrate a long-awaited victory.

Sharks are finally getting the attention they deserve. Six years ago (which means two Conferences ago), or even at the last CITES Conference of the Parties (CoP), CITES delegates did not even think that it was possible to include shark species in the CITES Appendices. These ancient marine predators have always been an especially heated topic in the world of wildlife trade, with such strong opposition to listing them that it has been nearly a decade since a shark species was included in a CITES Appendix. Until this year, the whale shark was the last species listed, back in 2003. Since then, millions of sharks have continued to be killed each year to meet the demands of the shark fin trade, which has little to no regulation.

A NOAA agent counts confiscated shark fins.

Last week, a number of countries – including regions of Latin America, Europe, Africa and the U.S. – presented three shark proposals: Oceanic whitetip, hammerheads and porbeagle. All of these species have been heavily impacted by the shark fin trade. Populations of hammerhead sharks declined by 83 percent from 1981 to 2005 in the Northwest Atlantic, and similar declines are being seen in populations around the world. Porbeagles have also declined, thanks to unregulated longline fishing. Oceanic whitetips are exceptionally threatened by the fin trade, where the distinctive, easily-identifiable white-tipped fins of this species range can be worth up to $85 per kilogram.

The discussions around these shark proposals took all day long. Many delegates and representatives testified (something called an “intervention” at CITES) in favor of the proposals, presenting compelling arguments and information on the impacts that international trade has on these sharks. Most of all, they addressed the arguments that led similar proposals to fail at the last CoP in 2010. At that time, the opposition – which included China (a major shark importer), Thailand, Cambodia, Japan and others – trotted out all kinds of misinformation to keep the proposals from passing. They even claimed that one can’t identify the species of shark from the fins alone, which would make it impossible to judge imports from the shark fin trade.

Hammerhead shark.

This year, we came prepared. Defenders and our partners created shark identification guides that clearly show how to identify species of sharks and their fins. We also spent a great deal of time and effort reaching out to a number of nations before the Conference to encourage them to support these proposals, including all the Latin American and West African countries, which turned out to be crucial in getting enough votes. This time we finally saw some real progress for sharks. With an historic two-thirds vote in favor, all three proposals were approved! Oceanic whitetip, porbeagle sharks and three species of hammerheads will be listed in Appendix II of CITES, finally setting strict regulations to protect these species from the demands of the trade.

The same day also saw a similar victory for two species of mantas. Both are found only in fragmented populations across the tropics, but their tendency to gather in large numbers makes them exceptionally easy targets for fishermen – and especially vulnerable to overfishing. People catch mantas for their gill plates, also called “gill rakers,” which are used for medicinal purposes in East Asia. Places like Indonesia and Mozambique have seen their manta populations decline more than 80 percent in some places over the past eight years. Installing regulations on this trade, which kills thousands of mantas every year, is a great step toward ensuring a future for these two species. The proposal to list mantas passed the same day as the shark proposals, with even more votes than the sharks making it a great day for marine animals.

Unfortunately, freshwater rays did not fare as well. We worked hard to get support for a proposal to list three species of freshwater rays from South America in the CITES Appendix to better regulate the international trade of these animals, which are mainly imported for the pet trade in the US, Thailand, China, Europe and others. Sadly, the proposal did not get the support it needed to pass, mostly due to Europe’s negative vote and heavy opposition from pet trade organizations.

Michael Tucker, International Conservation Intern

The oceanic whitetip was once considered the most abundant species of sharks on the planet. But now, due largely to overfishing, it has become one of the most threatened. A member of the same family as the bull shark, sandbar shark, and blacktip shark, the oceanic whitetip is highly migratory. It lives in warm seas, and is capable of bearing live young. Unfortunately for the oceanic whitetip, they do not breed fast enough to counteract the vast overfishing of the species which has occurred over the past 60 years.

What’s the Problem?

Oceanic whitetip shark (©Peter Koelbl)

For years, biologists have seen oceanic whitetip populations decline. In 2006, the IUCN designated the species as threatened. While the global population is difficult to know for certain, it is estimated that their population decreased almost 70 percent globally between 1992 and 2000, and is continuing to go down every day. Along the Gulf of Mexico, records from the 1950s compared to those from the 1990s show a shocking population decrease in oceanic whitetip shark population of 98 percent!

Catching and finning sharks has become much more popular throughout many Asian countries in the past several years. And around 30 percent of all the sharks brought in by these fishing vessels is oceanic whitetip sharks! The reason whitetips are so vulnerable to this practice  is that they tend to follow ships, seeking food dropped off the sides. This allows them to easily be trapped in the large nets dragged behind finning vessels. Each shark fin sells for around $80 to the restaurants that use them for shark fin soup. Unfortunately, that means they won’t stop anytime soon without a very good reason to cut back. Roughly 73 million sharks of various species are killed each year to make shark fin soup.

Bycatch is another massive problem facing sharks. Longline cables, drag nets and other means of catching larger fish such as tuna end up snagging other creatures as well, including the oceanic whitetip. These sharks are then thrown back into the ocean too weak to swim from being strung up for hours or even days, caught on a hook not intended for them. Without the strength to swim away, these sharks often drown or find themselves victims of other scavengers who follow these boats. Oceanic whitetips make up just over 20 percent of the sharks caught on these longlines in the Pacific Ocean. With so many oceanic whitetips killed each year, it’s unlikely that they’ll be able to repopulate fast enough to balance out the numbers.

What Can We Do?
One of the best steps we can take to protect oceanic whitetips is to have them listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES. Being listed under CITES would mean that  international trade in the fins and other parts of sharks would be closely monitored and regulated to make sure that the species would not be threatened with extinction. Given that one of the largest threats to the species is due to trade, regulation could make a huge difference.

For several years now, many Latin American countries have been leading proposals to CITES about expanding protection for sharks. In the upcoming March 2013 CITES meeting in Thailand, the United States, along with Brazil and Colombia, will cosponsor the proposal to list the oceanic whitetip shark under CITES Appendix II. The United States will cosponsor the proposal, and Defenders of Wildlife has been collecting data and preparing materials on the oceanic whitetip to help our cosponsor countries prepare for it. If the proposal is approved, all countries involved in the international shark fin trade will be required to get a permit in order to import the sharks or their fins, and regulations will only allow for a sustainable harvest. If it passes, this will be a great step toward curbing the uncontrolled harvest and trade of sharks for their fins, and will help save a species worth keeping for future generations.

Some 73 million sharks are killed each year for their fins, depriving ocean habitats of this vital top predator.

by Brian Bovard

Sharks are facing an undeniable worldwide threat as populations are pushed to the brink of extinction due to targeted and by-catch over-fishing. Up to 73 million sharks are killed each year for their fins alone in a brutal process known as “finning” which involves slicing off a shark’s fins, usually while it’s still alive, and discarding the body at sea. As demand for this pricey commodity, which can sell for over $300 per pound and is used primarily to make an Asian delicacy shark fin soup, continues to soar shark populations across the world will continue to plummet. As predators at or near the top of marine food webs, sharks help maintain the balance of marine life in our oceans and research shows that the massive depletion of sharks will have cascading effects throughout the oceans’ ecosystems.

Fortunately countries across the world are recognizing the dangers posed by these massive depletions of shark species. This past week Defenders of Wildlife’s International Counsel, Alejandra Goyenechea, along with government representatives from 50 other countries worldwide, had the honor of attending the first meeting of signatories to the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Sharks concluded under the UN Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) which took place in Bonn, Germany. Defenders was present to ensure that proper conservation measures were in place as participants adopted a new conservation plans, which aims to catalyze regional initiatives to reduce threats to migratory sharks. Signatory states also agreed to involve fishing industry representatives, NGOs, and scientists in implementing the conservation plan.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding, countries agreed to exchange information among government bodies, scientific institutions, international organizations and NGOs for better cooperation. Improved monitoring and data collection will help assess the structure, trends and distribution of shark populations necessary to design targeted conservation measures. Although the memorandum of understanding for the conservation of sharks was made non-binding, the signatories agreed that fishing quotas for sharks must be established and monitored closely while by-catch for mako, spiny dogfish, porbeagle, basking, white, and whale sharks must be monitored much more diligently.

Currently 258 shark species are listed as threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. An additional 210 species are listed in the Data Deficient category because of a lack of sufficient population data, which itself suggests these species are at high risk. The IUCN has estimated that 32 percent of open-ocean sharks are threatened with extinction. Sharks are slow to grow, slow to reach sexual maturity, very slow to reproduce, with some shark species having gestation periods of up to two years, and so are particularly susceptible to overfishing. Also shark species that are coastal swimmers, mostly pregnant females are very easy targets for overfishing. Fortunately there is a growing global awareness to protect sharks as more states and countries pass legislation that will protect these magnificent species.

Defenders landed a big win for sea otter conservation.

It’s been a busy year for Defenders’ California office, but the hard work has resulted in a huge payoff for the Golden State’s wild ones. Here’s a recap of some key state successes:

Sea otter fund saved

Sea otters are threatened with extinction, but thanks to Defenders, an important lifeline keeping these charismatic marine mammals afloat remains intact.

We helped lead the charge to reauthorize the California Sea Otter Fund, which has collected more than $1 million over the past five years in donations from California taxpayers for scientific research and sea otter conservation. The critical fund was set to expire at the year’s end unless the California Legislature acted fast.

Defenders worked with Assemblyman Bill Monning and the Monterey Bay Aquarium to sponsor legislation (AB 971) reauthorizing the tax check-off fund for up to another five years.

We promoted the program through newspaper, TV and radio interviews, and public service advertisements featuring Philippe Cousteau, which were broadcasted on the airwaves and World Wide Web. The result: Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill into law on Sept. 1.

That ought to keep otter fans everywhere smiling.

Shark-finning: A fading fad?

Blue shark, courtesy of Mark Conlin, NOAA.

The brutal practice that sees millions of sharks killed solely for their fins each year may soon become a thing of the past–at least in California, the largest market for fins outside of Asia.

Hopefully, the fin ban (AB 376) will help to curb the growing appetite for shark fin soup, a traditional Chinese delicacy once enjoyed primarily by a small, privileged class that’s now become an international status symbol served up at special occasions such as weddings and business dinners.

What’s worse is that overfishing has caused some shark populations to plummet by as much as 99 percent, and many shark populations worldwide are in distress.

But beginning in the new year, the ban will come into effect in the Golden State, phasing out the selling and trading of fins over the next year and a half–making 2013 the year of the shark.

Harvesting the sun’s energy

Damaged croplands could have a second life as solar farms.

There’s no more debate: Climate change is real and it’s happening in a big way. And experts agree that we must quickly transition to clean energy sources, such as the sun and wind, to avoid the worst impacts of a warming world on people and wildlife alike.

But renewable energy projects can also carry a high price tag for the environment if they’re not designed to avoid destroying habitat or harming imperiled wildlife, like desert tortoise or golden eagles.

That prompted Defenders and a coalition of conservation and agriculture groups to work together to pass a new law (SB 618) aiming to make it easier and less expensive for renewable-energy developers to build commercial-scale solar power plants on degraded farms.

The idea is to drive development away from sensitive habitat on public lands and prime agricultural lands–all the while, giving damaged croplands a second life as solar farms.

Beginning in 2013 the possession, sale and trade of shark fins in California will no longer be legal. It came down to the wire but California’s Governor Jerry Brown signed AB376 into law on October 7, 2011. This is a big win for sharks and a great victory for the many organizations who worked tirelessly on this legislation. We here at Defenders want to give a big ‘thank you’ to all the supporters who wrote to their congressional members and the governor lending their voices of support for passage of the bill.

Over 73 million sharks are killed each year by finning, a process that involves cutting off the shark’s fins, often while it is still alive, and throwing the shark back overboard where it can sink to the ocean floor and eventually die. Many shark populations have collapsed worldwide due to overfishing, with some populations declining as much as 90-99%. California now joins a growing worldwide movement to protect this rapidly dwindling species.

After signing the bill Governor Brown had the following to say: “The practice of cutting the fins off of living sharks and dumping them back in the ocean is not only cruel, but it harms the health of our oceans.  Researchers estimate that some shark populations have declined by more than 90 percent, portending grave threats to our environment and commercial fishing. In the interest of future generations, I have signed this bill.”

If you’d like to send a letter to California lawmakers and let them know you appreciate them protecting wildlife please head to Defenders’ Wildlife Action Center and send them your thanks!  

Last week was Shark Day in California as supporters met in front of the Capitol to show their support for bill AB 376, which was introduced to outlaw the possession, trade, and sale of shark fins in California to help end the brutal practice of shark finning.  An estimated 73 million sharks  are killed each year for their fins and some shark populations, like the hammerhead shark, are on the brink of collapse.  Defenders of Wildlife’s Jim Curland recently spoke to Public News Service about the event and about the plight of these magnificent ocean dwellers.

Listen to the interview:

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What’s Next?

Update: 08/26/11
Great news! The bill has now passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on a 5-2 vote. We’re expecting the bill to be voted on by the full Senate within days the next few weeks and will let you know the outcome. If it passes the Senate, the bill will then go to the Governor’s desk for signing.