This shark family, which includes bull sharks, reef sharks, sandbar sharks, lemon sharks and blue sharks, is one of the largest with 56 species. Following their inclusion on Appendix II, these animals may no longer be traded in future without proof from the exporting country that the species is not endangered by the export. This proof is almost impossible to provide, meaning that listing on Appendix II is close to an export ban. There is also hope that the family Sphyrnidae, the hammerhead sharks, will also be protected at the current meeting.
In addition, there is a further decision, the "look-alike rule": anything that even appears as though it could be a protected species may no longer be traded. This is close to a reversal of the burden of proof, which immensely facilitates the work of customs and species conservation authorities: if discovered shark fins look like a listed species, it must be proven that it is a non-critical species, otherwise the trade is automatically deemed illegal.
If these regulations are implemented, hundreds of thousands of sharks can be protected. This is therefore good news for us today, even though much work remains to be done.
In the image from top to bottom: Caribbean reef shark (Carcharhinus perezii); bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas) and lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris)
