The technical workshop considered global and country specific information on shark fisheries and trade to identify limitations and strategies for improving their monitoring. Reports from a selected number of main shark fishing and trading nations described the status of shark fisheries and the efforts towards the development of a National Plan of Action for Sharks. The workshop recommended actions to promote the implementation of National Plans of Action for Sharks and to address specific problems affecting catch and trade monitoring, including lack specificity in data, underestimated catch volumes, and limitations in the customs codes used in trade monitoring.--Publisher's description.

The First meeting of the WECAFC/OSPESCA/CRFM/CITES/CFMC Working Group on shark conservation and management was held in Barbados on 17-19 October 2017. The meeting was attended by 30 shark fisheries experts from 15 WECAFC member countries and partner agencies. The meeting recognized the decline in various shark and ray stocks in the Caribbean region, as well as the need to conserve the threatened species among them. The meeting stressed the importance of harmonizing conservation and management measures with various international and regional conventions for the protection of these often-migratory species, as well as with measures by regional fisheries management bodies in the Atlantic. The fisheries experts recommended amongst others that the countries in the region should prohibit the removal of shark fins at sea and require that all sharks be landed with their fins naturally attached through the point of first landing of the sharks. The experts recommended the prohibition of targeted fisheries for iconic species, such as whale sharks, sawfishes and manta rays. The experts worked on a regional shark stocks and fisheries status assessment and a Regional Plan of Action for the conservation and management of sharks and rays in the WECAFC area.

The key aim of this book is to explore the global conservation and management of sharks. There has been a rapid decline in populations of many shark species, while new science has emerged of the critical role they play in marine ecosystems. However, the authors show that conservation law and policy have been slow to develop, with only a small number of iconic species being protected worldwide. The increase in fishing impact – primarily through shark finning and by-catch - has led to shark conservation receiving greater international attention in recent years. The book explores our current knowledge and status of the law and science in relation to sharks with a particular focus on improving frameworks for their conservation and management. Recent trends are analysed, including shark finning bans that have been put in place in several countries, the widening number of nations establishing shark sanctuaries and the growth of shark-based tourism. The efficacy of current listing processes for endangered species and fisheries regulations is also examined. Tourism is explored as an alternative to fishing and the risks and impacts associated with this industry are analysed. Contributors include leading authorities from universities and conservation organizations in North America, Europe and Australia. A common theme is to emphasise the importance of collaborative governance between various interest groups and the need for inter-disciplinary research and management approaches that are necessary to address the decline in sharks.

The Panel was convened in response to the agreement by the twenty-fifth session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries on the terms of the reference for an Expert advisory panel for assessment of proposal to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and to the endorsement of the 26th Session of the COFI. This Report includes the assessment of each of the six proposal made by the Panel. Available in French and Spanish.

This document contains the report of the subregional training workshop on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and fisheries for the Pacific Island Countries, jointly organized by the Development Law Service of the FAO Legal Office and the CITES Secretariat, in collaboration with FAO Subregional Office for the Pacific and the FAO Offices in the concerned countries. The workshop was held virtually from 15 to 17 November 2021. The workshop aimed at raising awareness and strengthening the understanding of CITES implementation in the fisheries sector; introducing and training participants on the use of the FAO-CITES Legal Study and Guide; and identifying countries’ needs and interests in enhancing national fisheries legislation for a better implementation of CITES in the fisheries sector. A total of 85 participants joined the workshop, including from seven Pacific Islands Countries (Fiji, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu), other invited countries (Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America), four regional organizations – the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission – and fisheries experts from the civil society organizations, the CITES Secretariat and FAO.The three-day programme included presentations on CITES key principles and requirements and their applicability in the fisheries sector; clarifications on commercially-exploited aquatic species listed in CITES Appendix II; opportunities for collaboration between CITES and fisheries authorities; correlations between CITES and fisheries management; an introduction on how to use the FAO-CITES Legal Study and Guide; the relevance of FAO’s PSMA and CDS; and knowledge-sharing on practical experiences of CITES implementation at national and regional levels.Similar initiatives are planned for the future, including conducting a subregional workshop for certain Caribbean countries in 2022. These initiatives will have a similar agenda and build on the lessons learned from the subregional workshop for the Pacific Islands Countries.

"In 2011, the Conference on Fisheries requested FAO to prepare a report on the implementation of the 1999 FAO International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks by FAO Members, and the challenges Members faced when implementing the instrument. This document provides the requested review and includes information on National Plans of Action (NPOAs), for the Conservation and Management of Sharks, national fisheries regulations in general and measures applicable to sharks including research, data collection and reporting. In addition, membership of relevant regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) and status of adopting the Port State Measures Agreement are included. This review focuses on the 26 top shark-fishing countries, areas and territories determined as those reporting at least 1 percent of global shark catches during the decade from 2000 to 2009: Indonesia, India, Spain, Taiwan Province of China, Argentina, Mexico, the United States of America, Pakistan, Malaysia, Japan, France, Thailand, Brazil, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Portugal, Nigeria, Iran (Islamic Republic of), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Republic of Korea, Canada, Peru, Australia, Yemen, Senegal and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of). This review also considered shark action plans and measures from the European Union (Member Organization) and ten RFMOs. Eighty-four (84) percent of the global shark catches reported to FAO from 2000 to 2009 was from the 26 top shark-fishing countries, areas and territories. Overall, global reported annual shark catches during this decade show a significant decline of almost 20 percent from about 900 000 tonnes to about 750 000 tonnes. The review shows that 18 of the 26 top shark fishing countries, areas and territories have adopted an NPOA Sharks and that an additional 5 of these countries are in the process of adopting or developing such a plan. Among the most commonly adopted management measures for sharks are shark fin measures; but other regulations have also been implemented such as closed areas and season, by-catch/discard regulations, protected species, total allowable catches (TAC) and quotas, special reporting requirements and others. Data collection and research on sharks is lacking in many regions. Overall, the reporting of shark catches to FAO has improved in the last decade. Shark catches reported at species level doubled from 14 percent in 1995 to 29 percent in 2010. Most of the top shark-fishing countries, areas and territories have taken steps to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, either by signing the FAO Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) (46 percent) or at least by adopting an NPOA IUU or similar plan (23 percent). Only five (20 percent) of the top 26 shark-fishing countries, areas and territories have not adopted an NPOA Sharks, signed the PSMA or implemented an NPOA IUU. Nonetheless, in quite a few countries the effective implementation of MCS schemes is problematic, often because of a lack of human and financial resources. All but one of the top shark-fishing countries, areas and territories are members of at least one RFMO. In particular, shark measures adopted by tuna bodies are binding in their areas of competence for all their member States that have not objected to the measure in question. The array of shark measures adopted by the RFMOs may vary from binding recommendations or resolutions to non-binding measures, as in the case of the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT). They include shark fin measures, catch and gear regulations, prohibited species, area closures, reporting requirements and research programmes. This means that in all but one area covered by RFBs there are internationally binding shark measures in place for high seas fisheries."--Publisher's description.

In many fisheries they are, however, often landed and marketed.