"From tiny seahorses to the gigantic whale shark, this meeting of CITES may determine whether the oceans can survive the most voracious marine predator of all - humans," said Stuart Chapman, head of WWF-UK's species programme.
"CITES has only been in effect for 27 years - a little more than half the life-span of a toothfish or a minke whale, and about one quarter of that of a whale shark. These species cannot recover overnight, and governments have a duty to future generations to help protect them from the threat of illegal and unregulated international trade."
Arguably the world's most important and effective wildlife agreement, CITES is the only global treaty that regulates international trade in animals and plants. But as the world's oceans face continued over-fishing and other pressures, WWF argues that CITES must develop an important new role in regulating international trade in species that are often regarded as commodities rather than wildlife.
WWF also believes that CITES should provide a standardised, global process for tracking international trade in designated marine species. Proposals to add toothfish and two sharks (basking and whale sharks) to CITES Appendix II would prove an important milestone in the evolution of CITES, bringing these commercially valuable marine fisheries under the Convention's umbrella for the first time.
"The precedent involved in listing a species subject to deep-ocean commercial fisheries in the high seas would help signal the 'coming of age' of CITES as an international conservation instrument," Stuart Chapman added.
"CITES has only been in effect for 27 years - a little more than half the life-span of a toothfish or a minke whale, and about one quarter of that of a whale shark. These species cannot recover overnight, and governments have a duty to future generations to help protect them from the threat of illegal and unregulated international trade."
Arguably the world's most important and effective wildlife agreement, CITES is the only global treaty that regulates international trade in animals and plants. But as the world's oceans face continued over-fishing and other pressures, WWF argues that CITES must develop an important new role in regulating international trade in species that are often regarded as commodities rather than wildlife.
WWF also believes that CITES should provide a standardised, global process for tracking international trade in designated marine species. Proposals to add toothfish and two sharks (basking and whale sharks) to CITES Appendix II would prove an important milestone in the evolution of CITES, bringing these commercially valuable marine fisheries under the Convention's umbrella for the first time.
"The precedent involved in listing a species subject to deep-ocean commercial fisheries in the high seas would help signal the 'coming of age' of CITES as an international conservation instrument," Stuart Chapman added.