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Wildlife summit to vote on shark protections
Delegates at a global summit on trade in endangered species have postponed until Friday a vote on whether to approve a proposal to protect sharks.
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In this file photo taken on November 27, 2019, a hammerhead shark swims at the Miami Seaquarium in Miami, Florida. (AFP/Ludovic Marin)
D
elegates at a global summit on trade in endangered species have postponed until Friday a vote on whether to approve a proposal to protect sharks, a move that could drastically reduce the lucrative and often cruel shark fin trade.
The proposal would place dozens of species of the requiem shark and the hammerhead shark families on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
The appendix lists species that may not yet be threatened with extinction but may become so unless trade in them is closely controlled.
If the plenary meeting gives the green light, "it would be a historic decision," Panamanian delegate Shirley Binder, who presided over the meeting, told AFP.
"For the first time CITES would be handling a very large number of shark species, which would be approximately 90 percent of the market," she said.
Although a vote had been expected Thursday, Binder suspended the session late in the afternoon and pushed it to Friday, as debate over the hippo trade between the European Union and African countries dragged on.
Insatiable appetite in Asia for shark fins, which make their way onto dinner tables in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan, has spurred their trade.
