FAO Fisheries Circular No. 990 FIIU/C990 (En) ISSN 0429-9329 WORLD MARKETS AND INDUSTRY OF SELECTED COMMERCIALLY- EXPLOITED AQUATIC SPECIES WITH AN INTERNATIONAL CONSERVATION PROFILE Copies of FAO publications can be requested from: Sales and Marketing Group Information Division FAO Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 00100 Rome, Italy E-mail: [email protected] Fax: (+39) 06 57053360 FAO Fisheries Circular No. 990 FIIU/C990 (En) WORLD MARKETS AND INDUSTRY OF SELECTED COMMERCIALLY- EXPLOITED AQUATIC SPECIES WITH AN INTERNATIONAL CONSERVATION PROFILE by Camillo Catarci Consultant FAO Fisheries Department FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Rome, 2004 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries All rights reserved. Reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product for educational or other non-commercial purposes are authorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of material in this information product for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without written permission of the copyright holders. Applications for such permission should be addressed to the Chief, Publishing Management Service, Information Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy or by e-mail to [email protected] © FAO 2004 Foreword Purpose of the paper Driven by world population growth and increased global demand for fishery products, fishing pressure has been rapidly increasing over the past years. Marine captures totalled 86.0 million MT in 2000, a level close to the historic peak of 86.4 million MT in 1997, following the decline to 79.2 million MT in 19981. Capture of inland fish resources, in turn, increased from 7.5 million MT in 1997 to 8.8 million MT in 20002 (FAO 2002). As the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) reports, only an estimated 25 percent of the major marine fish stocks or species groups for which information is available are underexploited or moderately exploited. About 47 percent of them are fully exploited and are therefore producing catches that have reached, or are very close to, their maximum sustainable limits. Another 18 percent are reported as overexploited. Ten percent of stocks have become significantly depleted, or are recovering from depletion through the implementation of drastic and long-term reductions in fishing pressure and other management measures (FAO 2002). Over time, the international community has launched various international and regional conservation initiatives with the aim of improving the conservation status of commercially exploited aquatic species, with a particular focus on depleted and overexploited species. Such initiatives include: - management measures by regional fishery bodies and arrangements (RFBAs)3; - international treaties; and - soft law. The commercial exploitation of aquatic species provides food and income in most areas of the world, and especially in developing countries and transition economies. This paper aims to assess the economic and social importance of selected fisheries targeting aquatic species with an international conservation profile. In order to ensure adequate representation, the following species were chosen: - Sturgeons and paddlefishes (Acipenseriformes), large inland fish species of high commercial value, mainly occurring in the northern hemisphere. These species are highly threatened by legal and illegal overfishing. They have been listed as a genus in Appendix II to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), while some particular species have been listed in Appendix I. 1 This decline was caused by the adverse impact of El Niño (FAO 2002). 2 However, as the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) reports, there are significant problems concerning the accuracy of inland fishery statistics (FAO 2002). 3 On the basis of scientific evidence, RFBAs recommend measures aimed at maintaining the natural resources under their mandate at levels allowing maximum sustainable catch. iii - Caribbean queen conch (Strombus gigas), a mollusc of high commercial value, exploited by both artisanal and commercial fisheries in tropical areas. It is listed in Appendix II to the CITES Convention. - Sharks (Chondrichthyes), widely distributed but still understudied animals, generally considered as “poor people’s fish”, but for their fins, which fetch high prices in world markets. Sharks are generally taken by commercial fisheries as bycatch, whereas targeted shark fisheries are largely artisanal. Sharks are protected by the CITES Convention, the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), the UNCLOS Convention and by the FAO International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks (IPOA-Sharks). - Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), a large oceanic species, particularly appreciated by North American, European and Japanese connoisseurs for its flesh, and exploited by commercial fisheries in the areas bordering the Antarctic. The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) has set up a sustainable management regime for this resource. Another selection criterion has been the under-representation of the species in marketing and industry literature, historically focused on traditional commodities such as bivalves, cephalopods, crab, fishmeal and fish oil, groundfish of the genera Gadhus spp., Merluccius spp. and Theragra spp., lobster, salmon, shrimp, small pelagics and tuna. Background to the international environmental legislation with an impact on the commercially-exploited aquatic species analysed in this paper CCAMLR The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources came into force in 1982, as part of the Antarctic Treaty System. Outcomes of the Convention were the CCAMLR and its Scientific Committee. CCAMLR is a trans-oceanic RFBA whose mandate covers marine living resources in the Southern Oceans. CCAMLR and its Scientific Committee pioneered the "ecosystem approach" to the management of fisheries. The ecosystem approach, according to CCAMLR, does not concentrate only on the species fished, but also seeks to avoid situations where fisheries have a significant adverse effect on dependent and related species. CCAMLR set up measures to prevent and combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing (IUU). In the case of Patagonian toothfish, the Commission established an International Catch Documentation Scheme (CDS) to track and monitor trade in Dissostichus spp. According to the scheme, Parties are required to document all toothfish landed in their ports, transhipped in their vessels or through their ports, in order to avoid IUU fishing. iv CITES The aim of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. CITES works by making international trade in selected animal and plant species conditional to certain controls. All import, export, re- export and introduction from the sea, of species covered by the Convention must be authorised through a licensing system. The species covered by CITES are listed in three appendices, according to the degree of protection needed: - Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction. Trade in specimens of these species is permitted only in exceptional circumstances; - Appendix II includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilisation incompatible with their survival; - Appendix III contains species that are protected in at least one country, which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling trade in such species. Each Party to the Convention must designate one or more Management Authorities in charge of administering the licensing system and one or more Scientific Authorities to advise them on the effects of trade on the status of the species. A specimen of a CITES- listed species may be traded only if the appropriate document has been obtained and presented for clearance at the port of entry or exit. Commercially-exploited aquatic species listed in CITES appendices include sturgeons and paddlefishes (Appendix II as a genus and Appendix I), three shark species (the basking shark Cethorinus maximus and the whale shark Rhincodon typus in Appendix II and the great white shark Carcharodon carcharias in Appendix III) and the Caribbean queen conch in Appendix II. Other international legislation The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) aims to conserve terrestrial, marine and avian migratory species throughout their range. Parties to CMS work together to conserve migratory species and their habitats by providing strict protection for the endangered migratory species listed in its Appendix I, by concluding multilateral Agreements for the conservation and management of migratory species listed in its Appendix II, and by undertaking co-operative research activities. The whale shark and the great white shark, plus several Acipenseriformes,