After the bluefin tuna, the Cites da Doha denies protection to another sea dweller at risk of extinction. This time it will be the emery shark whose protection has been withdrawn, it is appropriate to say with a flick of the tail.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
After bluefin tuna, Cites from Doha denies protection to another sea dweller at risk of extinction. This time it will be the one who will pay the price emery shark whose protection has been withdrawn it is appropriate to say "with a blow of the tail".
This species, which lives in temperate waters, has decreased by80% in recent years. The emery shark, at first, was the only one to have been admitted to the control of the CITES, among the four commercial species of shark examined: the hammerhead shark scalloped, lo ocean shark and spinarolo.
But let's see what happened. At first, EU and United States had advanced the proposal to include this species of shark in theAnnex II of the CITES, i.e. within the article that allows the international trade of this animal, subject to written authorization that this does not harm the species. At first, with 86 votes in favor and 42 against, just two days ago, the representatives of the States, gathered in Doha, they had decided for inclusion. But the joy of the environmentalists did not last long.
Un twist has turned the situation upside down, revoking the initial decision concerning the protection of the "Lamna nasus". A few hours after the end of the works, a secret ballot vote effectively put an end to the matter, thus decreeing that the emery shark is not considered at risk.
To tip the scales against the shark were mainly the Japan and China, Followed by Singapore and by the overwhelming majority of Asian countries, which during the Doha conference were tenaciously opposed to the blocking of the market in these meats, advocated by Cites.
La Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, a few days ago, had achieved a success, limiting the ivory trade of Zambia and Tanzania. The elephants were thus able to breathe a sigh of relief. But the inhabitants of the sea did not go so well.
The environmental associations, present in Doha, denounced "an aggressive and careful lobbying policy" by the Japan who has succeeded here in imposing their ideas on marine animals. Heike Zidowitz, representative of the Shark Alliance Delegation, said: “The decision on the emery is absolutely deplorable as well as the refusal to take protective measures for other endangered shark species. This failure affects some of the most vulnerable and most exploited marine species, threatened by the pressure of international and unregulated trade ”.
A disastrous year for marine species, and to think that it is precisely theYear of biodiversity.
Francesca Mancuso
