This committee is unique in that it explicitly includes scientific organizations and NGOs in its formation.
The Permanent Commission for the South Pacific has conformed a technical committee to address the development and implementation of a Regional Shark Plan of Action (Final Draft – 2008 – Pdf, in Spanish) which consolidates the national plans of Chile, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador.
Comisión Permanente del Pacífico Sur. Click to visit site.
Migramar were represented by Alex Hearn, who presented the results obtained to date on the various tracking studies in effect in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, and promoted Migramar as a platform to compile tracking information on key species throughout the region.
A key issue is the need for local-based expertise in these studies, which provide valuable ecological and management-oriented information on shark movements and distribution.
The Migramar team are happy to provide customized in-house training for teams wishing to commence tracking studies and join the network.
The first tasks agreed by the committee were to develop a database of all the shark research currently being undertaken in the region, with a view to promoting collaboration and data integration.
Additionally, existing information on six key shared species will be compiled and analyzed with a view to providing conservation management advice to the decision making bodies. These species include the blue shark (Prionace glauca), mako (Isurus oxyrhynxhus), thresher (Alopias pelagicus), silky (Carcharhinus falciformis) and the hammerheads (Sphyrna lewini and S. zygaena).
The last two species (one of which is the flagship research species for Migramar), were recently proposed to be included on Appendix 2 of the CITES treaty, which regulates international commerce in threatened species.
Unfortunately, despite the evidence presented, representatives from several countries lobbied to ensure that the proposal was rejected.
Read CITES Press Release: ‘CITES conference ends without new sharks in its net‘
