Wildlife activists welcome proposal to protect sharks

By Burak Bir

ANKARA (AA) - The move to protect new marine species including sharks and rays is a positive step, a wildlife protection official said.

"The listings of a number of new sharks, rays species and other marine species are welcome, although they are not yet secure," Richard Tomas, a coordinator of wildlife trade watchdog TRAFFIC told Anadolu Agency.

Touching on the latest proposal of Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which seeks trade protection for 18 species of sharks and rays, he mentioned that governments' supporting the proposal is an encouraging move.

"If they are confirmed, then this provides further opportunities for governments to help manage trade in these species at sustainable levels. Any trade will be managed through a series of permits, which means the levels of trade can be monitored," he said.

Although this was a positive step, he warned about the possibility of overturning the proposal.

"...Any of the votes on proposals are only provisional at this stage -- they will need to be confirmed in plenary -- and where the vote was close (such as Mako Sharks) there is the possibility that the debate might be reopened at plenary."

According to World Wildlife Fund (WWF), overfishing and illegal fishing of sharks for their fins is depleting shark populations worldwide.

The proposal with the aim of protecting 18 marine species was passed on Sunday at the Conference of the Parties (CoP) in CITES Appendix II trade protection in Geneva.

CITES is an international agreement between governments which aims to protect endangered species of wild animals and plants.