The Government of Australia has requested the CITES Secretariat to include the Great White Sharks Carcharodon carcharias on Appendix III (see CITES Secretariat Notification 2001/061).

Article II, paragraph 3 of the CITES Convention states that a Party to the Convention may request the inclusion in Appendix III of a species "subject to regulation within its jurisdiction… and as needing the cooperation of other Parties in the control of trade."

Mr. Armen Petrossian, President of the International Caviar Importers Association (ICIA), suggests that a CITES reduction of export quotas by 80% will not save the sturgeon, far from it. Mr. Petrossian says that there is a big inside market existing for sturgeon and caviar, adding that if a ban on international trade was an efficient conservation measure, then all the western range states would have thriving sturgeon populations. This is clearly not the case.

An 80% reduction in quotas will kill the outside markets and have little impact on the poachers. There is a high risk that the reduction of income for range states will be compensated with higher take to support the inside markets, which Mr. Petrossian believes may be enough to precipitate the extinction of the sturgeon. Unilateral actions by CITES would not address the real problems facing sturgeon conservation, or consider the thousands of people depending on this industry inside and outside of their countries. Questions concerning the livelihood of these people and sources of revenues for operating spawning facilities, releasing fingerlings, controlling inside and outside aspects of trade, and the replacement of the funds coming from outside trade are all key to a successful conservation initiative for the sturgeon.

IWMC fully supports Mr. Petrossian’s views and is pleased to acknowledge that the CITES Standing Committee adopted at its last meeting, at least for the time being, a similar position.