Brussels, 22/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - At the second Meeting of the Signatories of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Sharks (Sharks MoU), held from 15-19 February in San José, Costa Rica, the Signatories agreed to include 22 additional shark and ray species under the MoU.
On Monday 22 February, the Commission published a press release in which it explained that this agreement reflected “the need to strengthen measures to improve or restore a favourable conservation status of these sharks”.
Signatories agreed to include five sawfish species, two species of manta rays, nine mobula ray species, silky sharks, two species of hammerhead sharks, and three thresher shark species in Annex 1 of the Sharks MoU, thus bringing the number of listed species from seven to 29. This will strengthen cooperation amongst the Signatories to improve or restore the conservation status of these species. The Signatories also adopted an ambitious work programme covering research and outreach activities, to provide the basis for future decisions and to encourage new states to become Signatories to the MoU.
Portugal became the 40th Signatory to the Sharks MoU. The Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Sharks is the first intergovernmental treaty dealing specifically with shark conservation at a global level. It entered into force in March 2010. The European Union became a Signatory in 2011. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)