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 Shark Conference 2000 Online Documents Honolulu, Hawaii February 21-24
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| ELASMOBRANCHS AND THE FAO AN IGO'S ACTIVITIES ON CONSERVATION OF SHARKS AND RAYS | |||
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R. Shotton Abstract The Fisheries Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization, in responding to initiatives arising from CITES and its own Committee of Fisheries (COFI), has undertaken a number of activities relating to the management issues of elasmobranchs. A core programme of the department has been the preparation of species identification guides. The first major multi-volume publication in 1984 is being updated and expanded and the revision and expansion of a 1978 publication on utilization of sharks was published in 1999. Several technical meetings to consider the management requirements of sharks and related species have been taken in response to a COFI initiative; these have resulted in an International Plan of Action for management of this group. A series of case studies on elasmobranch management have been prepared and other shark management guides are being written. FAO has a mandate to undertake further initiatives relating to conservation of this group in response to appropriate requests. Introduction The Fisheries Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization is the lead technical agency for fisheries-related issues for the United Nations system. The mandate of the Fisheries Department commonly abuts that of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and that of the International Maritime Organization. FAO's major fisheries programme aims at promoting sustainable development of fisheries and food security. To do this, the Fisheries Department activities in Fishery Resources, Fishery Policy, Fishery Industries and Fishery Information focus on three medium-term objectives:
Thus, while FAO has a general mandate for marine living resources, elasmobranchs could be seen as just one part of that general responsibility. In 1994, the Ninth Conference of Contracting Parties of 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 (Conf. 9.17), requesting inter alia that (a) FAO and other international fisheries management organisations establish programmes to collect and assemble the necessary biological and trade data on shark species; and (b) all nations utilising and trading specimens of species to co-operate with FAO and other international fisheries management organisations. This request was the precursor to discussions at FAO's Twenty-second Session of its Committee on Fisheries (COFI), which met in Rome in 1997. Many delegations expressed the view that conservation and effective management of shark populations merited further examination. It was suggested that FAO organize, in collaboration with Japan and the United States using extra-budgetary funds, an expert consultation to develop and propose guidelines leading to a plan of action to be submitted to the next Session. Japan and the United States indicated their willingness to organize such a meeting in collaboration with FAO. On a parallel track, the Committee also called upon existing regional fishery management bodies and, where appropriate, other competent organizations or arrangements, to explore mechanisms for all aspects of shark conservation and management. Thus, an International Plan of Action for Conservation and Management of Sharks (IPOA-SHARKS) has been developed through the meeting of a Technical Working Group on the Conservation and Management of Sharks in Tokyo in April 1998 and a subsequent Consultation on Management of Fishing Capacity, Shark Fisheries and Incidental Catch of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries held in Rome in October of the same year. The International Plan of Action for Sharks was adopted by the 23rd session of COFI when it in Rome in 1999 with essentially no debate or discussion other than to note that the implementation of the plans of action for Conservation and Management of Sharks should be pursued as high priority. The International Plan of Action for Sharks One of the first things to note about the IPLOA - Sharks is that it is not only about sharks - or even elasmobranchs, but strictly speaking, about the chondricthyans. And although some argue that there was nothing wrong with using the technically correct term, as is apparent, they did not prevail. The full text for the IPLOA is given in Appendix I. There are several important things to note about the IPLOA in regards to its effectiveness. First, its implementation is voluntary. Second, from the perspective of those who drafted it, the Plan addresses all fisheries management regimes where elasmobranchs are harvested. Third, the Plan of Action notes that "FAO will as, and to the extent directed by its Conference, and as part of its Regular Programme activities, support States in the implementation of the IPOA-SHARKS, including the preparation of Shark-plans". As yet I am unaware of any specific additional activities that have been undertaken by national fisheries management jurisdiction in specific response to the expressions. When will it be known if the IPLOA has been successful, at least in stimulating management action that would not have otherwise occurred? FAO has noted that it believes that the action on the Plan of Action should be reviewed not less than every four years. FAO Activities on the Utilization of Sharks As a consequence of the need to collect more information on biological and trade data on shark species FAO has produced various technical studies on the utilization of sharks and other cartilaginous fish. The most recent publication by the Fish Utilization and Marketing Service (FIIU) updates the FAO/UNCTAD/GATT report "Shark utilization and marketing" . The new technical report provides a comprehensive and timely report on trade in shark products and identifies regional and global trends in demand and supply. It consists of a world overview, selected country reports and various appendices that have mainly been written by external experts. Ms Sei Poh Chen (Malaysia) is the author of Appendix II, which focuses on individual countries, their commercially important shark species and their utilization. In Appendix III Mr Hooi Kok Kuang (Singapore) analyses non-food uses of sharks as cartilage and liver oil. The studies covered under Appendix IV are country and regional analyses: Mr Hooi Kok Kuang wrote on Hong Kong, Ms Sei Poh Chen on Singapore and Malaysia, Mr R.A.M. Varma (India) on India, INFOYU on China, Mr Santiago Caro Ros of INFOPESCA on Latin America, Mr Massimo Spagnolo (Italy) on the Mediterranean and Mr O. Abobarin, Mr O.K.L. Drammieh and Mr M. Njie on Gambia and Ghana. The Abstract from this report is provided in Appendix IV. DNA Studies on Shark Species Identification The Ninth Conference of CITES in 1994 passed a resolution (Conf. 9.17) calling for the establishment of a programme for the monitoring of shark production and trade. And, the ICCAT SCRS Shark Working Group Sub-Committee, at its meeting on bycatch in February 1996, identified as a priority the issue of collection of basic data on shark catch (whether kept or discarded). There is a substantial trade in dried shark fin tissue in many parts of the world and it is currently poorly known if this trade is endangering certain species of shark. Accurate information on trade in shark fin is especially problematic in that dried fin cannot easily be identified to species in the market and the ease at which this product can be transported to other markets. In order to address these issues and implement the FAO Code of Conduct on Responsible Fisheries, which calls for the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of its component species, the FAO is implementing a project funded by the Government of Japan titled, "Sustainable Contribution of Fisheries to Food Security". A component of this project deals with the identification of shark species from fin tissue using molecular DNA techniques. The objectives of this research are to evaluate the efficacy of molecular techniques in the identification of shark species from dried fin tissue. Ultimately, the information will be used in order to provide a means to assess accurately the composition of the shark-fin fishery and potential impacts on endangered sharks. Five genetic laboratories from around the world have agreed to participate in the study. Each laboratory was provided with known samples of blood, muscle, liver, and dried fin from several individual sharks from several different species and developed molecular techniques to differentiate species. Following the development of laboratory protocols for species identification, each laboratory will be sent unknown samples of dried fin tissue for analysis. The cost and technical requirements of the techniques used by the different laboratories will be evaluated as to their appropriateness for a global programme on molecular analysis of shark fisheries. Case Studies on Management of Elasmobranch Fisheries As part of the follow on activities arising from the COFI interest in elasmobranch conservation, FI undertook the preparation of a number of case studies describing how this type of fishery is managed in a number of different management jurisdictions. To facilitate comparability, authors were asked to follow, as much as possible, a similar format in their reports. The objective of the Case Studies was to describe elasmobranch management practices within the context of respective national fisheries administrations. For most case studies, one can simultaneously learn of related national management practices including the management objective setting and subsequent fisheries policy formulation, evaluation and selection processes, how fisheries data and catch statistics systems are run, stock assessment procedures, if any, and the role and manner of enforcement of fisheries regulations in the context of the national fisheries laws. This context setting has been done as it was felt it was essential for understanding the fisheries sectors' circumstances in which the respective management regimes operate. Only in this way would the challenges that exist for elasmobranch management be fully appreciated. Despite this report's size (920pp) it is not without deficiencies. A particular failure has been the gaps in its geographical balance. This was for two reasons; first, for many major global areas, there is no management of elasmobranch resources. The reasons are varied. In some cases it is because of national indifference, in others, institutional incapacity, either lack of technical skills, funds for management, or human resources. Second, a common reason, and one which provides the greatest difficulty in surmounting, is that while the need for effective elasmobranch management is well appreciated by many fisheries departments, they are faced with exigencies, if not crises, of greater management priority. Thus, the neglect that management of elasmobranchs suffers, and was the motivation for preparing this report, is often regretted, not least by those responsible for their management. Another report goal was achieved en passant. It is the clear documentation of the sad neglect that management of elasmobranchs receives, not only in regions where competition for management resources can be expected to be fierce, but also in many areas where levels of economic prosperity are such that little, or no, valid reasons exists for the neglect of the husbandry of resources which so many states have claimed under the aegis of the Law of the Sea and extension of national jurisdictions. In these regions, the failure to manage what are national patrimonies must be seen more as an issue of national values rather than one of scarcity of resources. Despite the criticism by some of the authors of their national elasmobranch management accounts, many reports show that the challenges in many management regimes have been fully recognized and resolutely tackled. And, the professionalism of some of the management practices documented in this volume is truly impressive. A theme that dominates all papers is the dissatisfaction with the quality of elasmobranch catch data, both in identifying the species that are caught, and the amount of catch and landings - usually not the same thing because of unreported discards. While in some cases, aggregation of species data is a consequence of lack of suitable species identification keys, more commonly it is the result of lack of motivation to ensure that resources (funds and staff) are available to accurately identify the elasmobranch catch composition, but not always. In several chapters it is noted that national regulations have been changed to ensure that the fins and other body parts remain attached to the carcasses to enable identification of the shark, a task that outside of using DNA techniques becomes almost impossible once the fins are separated from the body. Aggregation of the data for catches of different fish species is a curse not only for shark fisheries but also for the skates and rays where the market provides little price differential between species and thus little motivation for fishermen to separate their catch by species. The Northeast Atlantic is represented by an omnibus account that, as the authors Pawson and Vince note, is not matched by the commitment to active management in the area, primarily the remit of the European Union. Two detailed accounts of regional management in the Maritimes of Canada and the Southwest US complement the Northeast Atlantic study. Two studies are available for the western Caribbean; a regional account of the CARICOM area which underlines the difficulty of shared stock management in an area that is only now marshalling the resources needed even for basic domestic management requirements. The second study for this region is from Guatemala. The management of two skate fisheries in the Atlantic are described, one in the northwest and the other in the southwest, both recently begun. The Newfoundland fishery, prompted by the search for new resources, is in the area of one of the oldest and most famous fisheries of the world, that of the cod fisheries, now collapsed. In contrast, industrial fisheries in the Falkland Islands/Malvinas region have been prosecuted for just over two decades. While the Falklands Island fishery is managed from Britain, the administration of both these fisheries is in strong contrast to the situation for skate in the European Union area. The South Atlantic is further represented, in the east by a study from South Africa and in the west by one from Uruguay that focuses on a specific elasmobranch group - Cazón (Galeorhinus galeus) - the soupfin shark. East Africa, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, despite their abundance of elasmobranchs, along with West Africa, remain unaddressed by the report. More success has been had slightly to the east where accounts have been obtained from the Seychelles and the Maldives. In the former, the effect of eco-tourism in causing the closure of the shark fishery, at least officially, is still to be revealed whereas in the Maldives a fascinating account is provided of how the tourism sector has been considered a major factor in formulation of national shark management plans. These two studies are complemented by those from India and Sri Lanka, both important elasmobranch fishing nations, but with the more conventional goal of feeding national populations. There are three excellent reports on national shark fishery management from Australia and the study from New Zealand provides an interesting complement. Readers interested in shared-stock management should be interested (and depressed) by the considerable evidence for the movement of sharks between these two countries despite their separation - at a minimum 1200 miles! And, readers will get some idea of how New Zealand's Quota Management System is being applied to such an interesting group taken primarily as a bycatch fishery. The north Pacific is represented by a report from Japan and Fiji offers a Pacific comparison to the small-island-state fisheries in the Indian Ocean. Again, shark fins and bycatches from foreign fishing ventures that target tuna figure prominently but with management complicated by traditional indiginous rights and management practices and eco-tourism concerns. Three accounts are given for the west coast of the Americas; that for British Columbia echoes the accounts of many of the others in emphasizing the role that shark livers, or more accurately, their vitamin A content, have played in development of these fisheries, in addition to the importance of shark liver oil for its role as an illuminant, lubricant and oil base for paints. Following the US account, a further contribution (in Spanish) describes the fishery in Ecuador. The chapter from Ecuador contains an extensive photographic record of small-scale shark fisheries handling practices that should interest those whose association with this group of fishes and related fishing practices gets no closer than the printed page. There are in addition regional accounts - for soupfin shark (Galeorhinus galeus) in a global context and of the ways elasmobranchs are handled by a regional tuna commission. An account of the roles of NGOs that are involved in this issue are included and finally an account is given of the deplorable state of global catch statistics relating to the chondrichthyans. Elasmobranch Species Identification Guides This FAO activity will provide a revision of "Sharks of the World" and its publication in the format of an FAO Fisheries Synopsis. The revised shark catalogue will describe about 480 species, in contrast to the 1984 catalogue which described about 350 species - a 37% increase. While the manuscript is under preparation, problems with taxonomic difficulties and the new species to be included in the revision have delayed progress. A technical editor has been recruited to co-ordinate the different project components (new drawings or modification of existing drawings by illustrators, preparation of maps of geographical ranges and DeskTop Publishing activities). The main constrains now are the considerable number of undescribed species, of which many lack the appropriate information. Second, the technical difficulties related with the production of maps of geographical distribution are another hindrance. To overcome these problems, the technical editor will work at FAO in Rome from March until August 2000. It is planned to complete the first volume (non-carchariniformes) before the end of this period and complete the second volume before the end of the year. Implementation of Plans of Action for Elasmobranchs One country, Italy, is preparing a National Plan for Conservation of sharks. This plan consists of 16 actions, one of which includes the production of a Regional Guide of Identification of Sharks of the Mediterranean. Another is to contribute to the preparation of an International Plan of Action for the Mediterranean in the framework of the Mediterranean Action Plan at his Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) in Tunis. In concrete they want to contribute to organize a Working Group to prepare the draft of the Regional Plan of Action. This action may be included in an MOU between FAO and RAC/SPA to complete 5 outputs this year. Output 3 is "Guidelines for the elaboration of national action plans for the control of fishing practices and gear harmful to threatened species and habitats for fishing pressure and species", and output "Draft regional Mediterranean strategy to reduce the impact of fishing activities on sensitive habitat species". Appendix I International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks Introduction
Guiding Principles
Appendix II Suggested Contents of a Shark-Plan
Appendix III Abstract Vannuccini, S. 1999. Shark utilization, marketing and trade. FAO Fisheries Technical Paper. No. 389. Rome, FAO. 1999. 470p. Sharks belong to the Chondrichthyes class, together with skates, rays and chimaeras and are found throughout the world in a wide variety of habitats and employing many biological strategies. Though sharks make up only a small percentage of the world's recorded fish landings, they are extremely versatile and are a valuable resource. They are of primary importance in some regions of the world, sustaining important fisheries in some countries. Moreover, they have been, and are, a cheap but valuable source of protein for coastal communities dependent on subsistence fisheries. Humans can utilize much of the carcass for food or other uses. Sharks are exploited for their meat, fins, skin, liver, teeth, cartilage and other internal organs. Shark flesh is used for meat which is highly favoured in some regions, most particularly in Europe with northern Italy and France as the major consuming countries and Spain as the world's largest exporter of shark meat. Meat is a high protein, low fat product; healthy as long as those specimens with a high mercury content are avoided. Shark intestines and skin are also eaten, chiefly in some Asian countries. Shark skin is used to make leather and sandpaper. Shark liver oil is used in the textile and leather industries, as a medicine and health supplement, as an ingredient of cosmetics and as a lubricant. This is not a negligible use of shark as between 2 500 and 3 000 specimens are required to make one tonne of shark liver oil. Production of shark cartilage products is a growing industry in shark processing, as the cartilage is being advocated as a cure for many conditions, particularly those associated with old age but also including cancer and even AIDS. Even shark teeth and "bones" are made into curios and any discarded parts of the carcass can be made into fishmeal and fertilizer. Shark fin is one of the costliest marine commodities and is used as a soup ingredient in communities of Chinese origin all over the world. China is the world's largest producer and trader in shark fin. Hong Kong appears to have out-sourced much of its processing of shark fin to China, taking advantage of the lower labour costs; however it remains the most important market in shark fin. The world trade figures for shark fin almost certainly include some double counting, as fins are frequently re-exported after further processing. It is surmised that improved techniques in the processing of shark fin, developed because of the exorbitant price of this commodity, have led to a reduction in the amount of raw material required to produce soup. It is interesting to note that the liberal use of salt in the preparation of shark fin, which the Chinese consumers complained about, is recommended in the section on preparation in the Appendix I .3 on the Indian shark industry. It is not possible to make all these uses of each shark, as the methods of preservation and preparation are often mutually exclusive and not all species of shark are suitable for every application. This report details the species used and the methods of preparation for the various purposes: meat, fins, liver oil, skins, cartilage and other uses. Contributions from East Asia, reported in the appendices contain many photographs of the fins traded and identify the species they belong to, using their local names and allocating the scientific name where possible. The nomenclature of shark, not only the common names and the names of processed parts, but even the scientific names, where multiple synonyms exist, only adds to the confusion when trying to collect or assess data. This publication brings together information from those parts of the world where sharks are important economically, as a substantial fisheries sector, a contribution to human food or a valuable trading item, with the latest statistics available, and with those on a world-wide basis from FAO. When comparing published statistics it is noticeable that few individual species are itemized and that there are significant discrepancies between available sources. | |||
