At Its annual meeting in Chile in November it will vote on a recommendation (Document Doc.14) that will widen its powers. If passed. CITES will be allowed to get involved with any species "of commercial importance", whether endangered or not. In short. CITES will be able to invade the whole fisheries sector, applying trade restrictions on species, one by one.

What's more, at this meeting CITES will also consider proposals to place basking sharks and whale sharks in Its Appendix II. This could be a precursor to a full trade ban. These moves are unnecessary because the Fisheries Committee of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has already recommended action plans for managing shark populations. Bit if passed, this will create major difficulties for fisheries operations everywhere. It is the first step to controlling all fisheries. And it is the first step to introducing layers of new bureaucracy for fishery exports.

Common sense dictates that these proposals will be voted down. But will they? There is also a proposal in Chile to eliminate secret voting ballots at CITES meetings. So, small and poor nations will be at the whim of the powerful, facing threats and intimidation if they vote "the wrong way".

Individually, these proposals present a threat to the livelihood of fishermen everywhere. Together, they are a recipe for disaster. That is why everyone who cares about fisheries should urgently Contact their governments and their national CITES Management Authorities.