PANAMA CITY: A global summit on trade of endangered species postponed until Friday the voting on a proposal whether to approve the protection of sharks, a decision that could considerably reduce the money-spinning and often brutal shark fin trade.
The proposal would enlist dozens of species of the hammerhead shark and requiem shark families in the heavily-controlled trade list, the Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
The list has species that may not be endangered of extinction but may become so unless its trade is heavily controlled.
The Panamanian representative Shirley Blinder, who presided over the meeting said that if the first meeting approved the proposal, it would be a historic moment.
She told AFP that for the first time Cites would take the control of a massive number of shark fishes which would be approximately 90% of the market.
The voting had been expected Thursday but Blinder opted to suspend the session and scheduled it to Friday, as debate over the matter between African countries and European Union prolonged.
Shark among most favorite foods in Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong
The shark is one of the most favorite foods in Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong, and it is being heavily traded into East Asian countries. Despite being describes as almost tasteless food, the Shark fin soup is a popular diet in wealthy families.
The specie, having a market of nearly 500 million US dollar annually, can be traded for almost one thousand dollar a kilogram. Shark is one of the oldest species living in seas for over 400 million years.
The specie is being endangered for many years as the Pew Environment Group has estimated that between 63 million and 273 million sharks are killed every year.
World in the middle of massive shark extinction
The director of shark protection for the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Wildlife Conservation Society, Luke Warwick informed AFP that the world was in the middle of a massive shark extinction crisis.
During the intensive debate which dragged on for hours in the summit, Peru and Japan wanted the number of shark species enlisted in the protection register. Japan suggested to reduce its trade to nineteen species of requiem sharks and Peru demanded only for the exclusion of the blue shark. However, both suggestions could not get green-light. –APP/AFP
