CITES CoP19, Panama, 17.11.2022 – Since 14 November 2022, the world has been looking to Panama for the 19th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES): www.cites.org.
Today it was decided that the trade in requiem and hammerhead sharks will be controlled in the future. After some long and heated objections from the industry, the global community has voted to protect these sharks.
Sharks have a very low reproduction rate, which makes overfishing devastating. Especially because, as top predators, they play a central role in maintaining a healthy and species-rich fish population in the oceans! Nevertheless, one third of all sharks and rays are already threatened with extinction!