The following article appeared in our Spring/Summer 2017 issue of Animal Issues Digest.
Sharks and rays form an essential part of West African marine ecosystems. They also present a particular challenge for fisheries management due to biological characteristics that make them more vulnerable, including relatively slow growth rates, late maturity, and low reproductive rates. Overfishing, climate change, and habitat destruction have caused drastic shark and ray population declines over the past 50 years, but these species are also increasingly targeted for international trade in their products (fins, meat, and gill plates), which are sold for medicinal purposes and consumption in Asia.[teaserbreak]
Born Free USA actively defended the decision to list 10 new species of sharks and 11 new species of rays ranging throughout West and Central Africa in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which was adopted at the last two meetings of the CITES Conference of the Parties in 2013 and 2016. But, our fight did not end with these decisions.
We also worked with the government of Senegal and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide training to West African authorities on the identification of shark and ray species protected by CITES.
Representatives of customs, wildlife, and fisheries ministries from nine countries (Senegal, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritania, Benin, Gabon, and Togo) were trained in a three-day workshop focused on wildlife law enforcement techniques, train-the-trainer sessions, roundtables, and discussions about information sharing and data monitoring. The training also provided the opportunity for participants to define and adopt priority enforcement recommendations.
After the training, identification guides that were focused on shark and ray species were distributed to participants and other relevant stakeholders to support regional efforts to combat illegal trafficking in these species. A poster was also designed by Born Free USA to prevent illegal trade in shark fins and promote shark conservation across West Africa. All tools have been put at the disposal of government officials and are currently used in key locations known as illegal trade hotspots in the region, such as airports and border crossings.
We hope that, through more targeted capacity-building actions in West Africa, we will be able to significantly reduce the illegal trade in shark and ray species—which would offer our marine ecosystems a brighter future.