Christelle Dyc – PhD in biology an ecology, environmental Abidjan, 20th October 2017 pollution specialization West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change (WA BiCC) SCOPING STUDY ON ADDRESSING ILLEGAL HARVESTING OF AQUATIC ENDANGERED, THREATENED OR PROTECTED (ETP) SPECIES FOR CONSUMPTION AND TRADE DELIVERABLE N°6: FINAL SCOPING REPORT ON “ADDRESSING ILLEGAL HARVESTING OF AQUATIC ENDANGERED, THREATENED OR PROTECTED (ETP) SPECIES FOR CONSUMPTION, AND TRADE” Email: [email protected] Tel.: +225 44 02 19 17 (Côte d’Ivoire) / +32 495 496 007 (Belgium) Christelle Dyc – PhD in biology an ecology, environmental Abidjan, 20th October 2017 pollution specialization Table of content 1. Categorization of the issue ............................................................................................................................... 3 1.1. Chondrichthyans ....................................................................................................................................... 3 1.1.1. sharks, rays excluded .......................................................................................................................... 3 a) Status ...................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.1.2. Rays ....................................................................................................................................................... 5 a) Status ...................................................................................................................................................... 5 1.1.3. Conservation actions for shark and ray species............................................................................... 6 1.2. Actinopterygii ............................................................................................................................................ 8 1.2.1. Syngnathidae ........................................................................................................................................ 8 a) Status ...................................................................................................................................................... 8 b) Conservation actions .............................................................................................................................. 9 1.3. Aquatic Mammalia ..................................................................................................................................... 9 1.3.1. Cetaceans ............................................................................................................................................. 9 c) Status ...................................................................................................................................................... 9 d) Conservation actions ............................................................................................................................ 11 1.3.2. Hippopotamus .................................................................................................................................... 12 e) Status .................................................................................................................................................... 12 f) Conservation actions ............................................................................................................................ 13 1.3.3. Manatees ............................................................................................................................................. 15 a) Status .................................................................................................................................................... 15 b) Conservation actions ............................................................................................................................ 16 1.4. Reptilia ..................................................................................................................................................... 17 1.4.1. Crocodiles ........................................................................................................................................... 17 a) Status .................................................................................................................................................... 17 b) Conservation actions ............................................................................................................................ 19 1.4.2. Marine turtles ...................................................................................................................................... 19 a) Status .................................................................................................................................................... 19 b) Conservation actions ............................................................................................................................ 22 1.5. Aquatic Aves ........................................................................................................................................... 26 a) Status .................................................................................................................................................... 26 b) Conservation actions ............................................................................................................................ 29 2. Annexes ............................................................................................................................................................ 31 2.1. Status information of the identified Chondrichthyan species ............................................................ 31 2.2. Status information of the identified Actinopterygii species ............................................................... 33 2.3. Status information of the identified aquatic Mammalia species......................................................... 33 2.4. Status information of the identified aquatic Reptilia species ............................................................. 35 2.5. Status information of the identified aquatic Aves species ................................................................. 36 3. Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................................... 40 2 Email: [email protected] Tel.: +225 44 02 19 17 (Côte d’Ivoire) / +32 495 496 007 (Belgium) Christelle Dyc – PhD in biology an ecology, environmental Abidjan, 20th October 2017 pollution specialization 1. CATEGORIZATION OF THE ISSUE 1.1. CHONDRICHTHYANS Chondrichthyan fishes included sharks, rays and chimaeras. In the present work, only sharks and rays are discussed. The term shark was used for the hammerhead, sawfish and shark species while the term ray was used for the ray and guitarfish species. Experts stated that chondrichthyan extinction risk is considered as higher than most other vertebrates: five of the seven most threatened families are rays and only one-third of species are considered as safe (Dulvy et al., 2014). In addition, one-quarter of the chondrichthyan population are threatened, according to IUCN Red List criteria, due to targeted and incidental overfishing. Fishery pressure is indeed increasing due to (i) lesser access of targeted population species as they are declining and (ii) high and/or rising value of their derived products (e.g. meat, fins, livers and gill rakers) (Lack and Sant, 2009). In West Africa, the global status of chondrichthyan species is worsening and some are already locally extinct (e.g. the sawfish and the guitarfish) while others (e.g. the great hammerhead shark) are threatened. A decreasing trend is observed in the region which is most likely due to the fewer availability of the species (e.g. the almost complete disappearance of the sawfish species, and a scarcity of guitarfish and large hammerhead sharks (Diop and Dossa, 2011)). Among the shark and ray related products, fins are reported as one of the most valuable seafood products. Twenty- six to seventy-three millions of specimens are caught and traded yearly for a value ranging from US$400 to US$ 550 millions (Clarke and Bjorndal, 2007). The main driver of shark fishing is the globalized trade to meet the Asian demand for shark fin soup1. In the past 20 years, the Asian chondrichthyan fin market was indeed the driving force behind the fishing business. Hong Kong, Taiwan and, to a lesser extent, Singapore and Japan were the final destinations of almost all the worldwide production of chondrichthyan fins. In West Africa, two main networks are operating in the shark and ray trade context. The first one is linked to the local market and targeted the meat (i.e. salted-dried or smoked) while the second one is linked to South East Asia export market and mainly targeted the fins. The environment of the west African coast is considered as fully exploited and amongst the most intensively fished areas worldwide (Zeeberg, Corten and de Graaf, 2006). The high market value, especially of fins, led to the development of targeted small scale and semi-industrial fishery activities among which artisanal fishery seems to account for the higher number of chondrichthyan catch (Diop and Dossa, 2011). Fishermen from several countries have been involved in the chondrichthyan fishing