3. Underlying Issues

3.5 - Alternative Approaches to Enhancing Shark Conservation

With the three species of sharks proposed for listing on CITES at COP11, and other species in trade for which conservation concerns have been voiced, objective assessments about risk of extinction are confounded by a lack of information. If decisions in the future are to be based on sound scientific data, rather than on inference and guesswork, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that increased monitoring and management research will be needed, and that international co-operation in such initiatives is essential. Basic areas are:

(i) Life History Parameters

Species-specific biological data (fecundity, survival, abundance, density effects, stock structure and distribution, growth rate etc.) and the effects of environmental variables (critical habitat, interannual resource variability etc.), are poorly known for most species. There are numerous avenues through which research aimed at this level of resolution can be enhanced within research institutions in many countries.

(ii) Fisheries Monitoring

Increased monitoring of harvests and trade volumes (AC 1996) will undoubtedly help establish global trends. By-catch is clearly a significant source of take, and related data should be more comprehensively incorporated into FAO statistics.

(iii) By-catch Mitigation

Where by-catch represents a commercial constraint, methods for mitigating by-catch should be developed and implemented. IPOA-Sharks (see below) recommends the introduction of temporal and spatial restrictions on gill netting to reduce by-catch of sharks.

(iv) Experimental harvests

As discussed above, inferring the impact of harvesting based on life history attributes and ecological theory alone, confounds both management and the interpretation of results. The only reliable method for gauging a stock’s response to exploitation is to conduct experimental harvests, under controlled, scientific conditions, and quantify the responses. The role of density-dependent processes and the time scales required for populations to recover from stock depletion at varying levels need to be quantified across a range of species.

(v) Development and testing of management models

Mathematical and computer simulation models can offer a quantitative and objective decision-making tool, but if such models are to be realistic and credible, they need to be tested and validated against real-world data (see Brook et al. 2000). Models with unrealistically high replacement rates (developed for teleosts) have been used in the past to manage shark stocks, even though they are clearly inappropriate. Demographic models of shark harvesting which includes realistic parameters for age to maturity, maximum age, average fecundity, mortality and density dependence, have been developed for 26 shark species (Smith et al. 1998), and are already pointing to harvest strategies that may lead to greater sustainability: using size limits to protect adults during peak reproductive years; fishing the oldest adults to free resources for the more fecund ages. Testing such strategies should be a priority.

(vi) International agreements and treaties

FAO, rather than CITES, is the obvious organisation to investigate, develop and foster compliance with treaties concerning co-operation in management and possible quotas for sharks. CITES may still have a role to play in monitoring trade volumes, but it is unclear whether this is needed or appropriate.

There are clearly a number of agreements already in place that have the potential to improve the sustainable management and conservation of shark species. The UN Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks has established rules and conservation measures for high seas fishery resources, and calls for Parties to protect marine biodiversity, minimise pollution, monitor fishing levels and stocks, provide accurate reporting of and minimise by-catch and discards, gather reliable and comprehensive scientific data. FAO has developed a Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries as a basis for effective management. It calls on non-participants to co-operate in implementing the code, and where their practices undermine the effectiveness of measures contained in the code, participating Parties are able to restrict domestic trade with non-compliants (AC 1996). These are appropriate international responses to what is clearly a complex set of international problems.

Concern that some shark species were being over-exploited due to the demands of international trade was recognised at CITES COP9 (Conf. 9.17), and it led to the development by FAO in 1998 of the International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks (IPOA-Sharks). This agreement emphasises the need to identify vulnerable and threatened species, and to facilitate the identification and reporting of species-specific biological and trade data. Individual States are required to assess the status of shark stocks within their exclusive economic zones, and those fished on the high seas, with the objectives of sustainable use. As detailed in the Plan, this would "necessitate consistent collection of data, including inter alia commercial data and data leading to improved species identification and, ultimately, the establishment of abundance indices", under the direction of FAO. The IPOA-Sharks has been developed within the framework of FAO's Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF); an agreement endorsed by over 70 countries (Walker 1998). Parties to the CCRF are encouraged to co-operate with international bodies to co-ordinate shark fisheries management throughout their geographical range, and thereby ensure international trade is not detrimental to their long-term survival (AC 1996). Implementation of IPOA-Sharks is voluntary, but it is designed to be consistent with the CCRF and the rules of international law.

International organisations, such as ICES, OLDEPESCA and various Tuna Commissions, also have plans that call for the monitoring and management of chondrichthyans (AC 1996). Improved recording and reporting of landings of certain sharks in European waters (e.g. C. maximus) will result from EC Council Regulation COM(95) 322 final (AC 1996).