🦈 Threatened sharks will have more protection

Last month, I made a video about sharks and the barbaric fin trade. I ended the segment with a call to stop the mass killing of millions of sharks. I didn't have to wait too long: soon after my video was released, the 19th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora voted for increased protection for sharks.

Fifty-four requiem sharks, including the grey reef and blue sharks, six from the hammerhead family and 37 guitarfish species, close relatives to sharks, will be given enhanced protection. They will join other species protected under global trade rules. Currently, only 25 per cent of the worldwide fin trade is regulated. New rules will cover more than 90 per cent of the business. 

With the new regulation, a country seeking to trade shark products will have to issue a permit to exporters and prove that scientists have shown the trade does not damage wild populations. It will give sharks a chance for survival since destructive fishing practices resulted in the 70 per cent decline in shark populations over the past 50 years. 

And it's not just sharks. Lizards, turtles, fish, birds, frogs, and more than a hundred tree species will also have increased protection. 

Elia Kabanov is a science writer covering the past, present and future of technology (@metkere)

Illustration: Elia Kabanov feat. MidJourney.