Implementing The Convention On International Trade In Endangered Species Of Wild Fauna And Flora Through National Fisheries Legal Frameworks

In recent years, an increasing number of commercially exploited and managed aquatic species, including sharks and rays, have been listed in the Appendices to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The listing of some species in CITES Appendix II has necessitated attention from the fisheries sector of States on how listing would impact on the management of the relevant fisheries. This sourcebook and the research process involved in its development highlighted the opportunity to implement CITES through national fisheries legal frameworks. Indeed, in certain cases, doing so can prove to be vital in giving practical effect to CITES while simultaneously enhancing fisheries management regimes and ensuring that all activities along the fisheries value chain, especially the international trade in CITES-listed aquatic species, are legal, traceable and sustainable. The study recognizes that communities operating within the CITES regime and in the fisheries sectors have their own particular areas of work. However, they should cooperate and coordinate their work where they share the common high-level objectives of ensuring responsible, legal and sustainable utilization of resources, including species, biodiversity and ecosystems, and implementing the relevant Sustainable Development Goals. This sourcebook was first published in 2020, designated as a "super year" for nature and biodiversity. The second edition of this sourcebook was developed to take into account and reflect the outcomes of the 19th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES, in 2022. The sourcebook is a timely and useful contribution to fisheries management as it seeks to provide support in: (i) raising awareness of CITES; (ii) enhancing comprehension of the CITES regime and its relationship with the fisheries sector; and (iii) where a deliberate decision is made by a country to implement CITES through its national fisheries legal frameworks, providing guidance on what to do and how to do it.

An increasing number of commercially exploited and managed aquatic species has been listed in the Appendices to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), triggering the attention from the fisheries sector of States on how listing would impact on the management of the relevant fisheries. CITES regulates international trade in certain aquatic species, including those which are, and can be, commercially exploited and which are being managed by the fisheries sector. The fisheries sector legal frameworks will have to recognize and enable the various requirements provided for in CITES, including the making of non-detriment findings and ensuring that there is a designated management authority and scientific authority to take certain decisions in respect of listed commercially exploited and managed aquatic species. This sourcebook provides clarifications on the relationship of CITES with the fisheries sector and provides guidance on how national fisheries legal frameworks can optimize the implementation of CITES. The realisation of this sourcebook in 2020, designated as a “super year” for nature and biodiversity, represents a timely and useful contribution to fisheries management, by (i) raising awareness of CITES; (ii) enhancing comprehension of the CITES regime and its relationship with the fisheries sector and (iii) where a deliberate decision is made by a country to implement CITES through its national fisheries legal frameworks, providing guidance as to what do it and how to do it.

This document contains the report of the subregional training workshop on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and fisheries for the Caribbean Countries, jointly organized by the Development Law Service of the FAO Legal Office and the CITES Secretariat, in collaboration with the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, the FAO Subregional Office for the Caribbean, and the FAO Offices in the concerned countries. The workshop was held virtually from 30 May to 2 June 2022. The workshop aimed at raising awareness and strengthening the understanding of CITES implementation in the fisheries sector; introducing and training participants on the use of the FAO-CITES Legal Study and Guide; and identifying countries’ needs and interests in enhancing national fisheries legislation for a better implementation of CITES in the fisheries sector. A total of 106 participants joined the workshop, from eleven Caribbean Countries (the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago), other invited CITES parties (European Union and the United States of America), the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission, the UN Conference on Trade and Development, the CITES Secretariat and FAO.The four-day programme included presentations on CITES key principles and requirements and their applicability in the fisheries sector; clarifications on commercially exploited aquatic species listed in CITES Appendix II; opportunities for collaboration between CITES and fisheries authorities; correlations between CITES and fisheries management; an introduction on how to use the FAO-CITES Legal Study and Guide; the relevance of FAO’s PSMA and CDS; and knowledge-sharing on practical experiences of CITES implementation at national and regional levels.This is the second of a series of subregional workshops on CITES and fisheries, organized by the CITES Secretariat and FAO. The first subregional workshop was held with Pacific Island countries. The next subregional workshop is planned for certain Latin American countries in 2023.

This diagnostic tool advances the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines) through policy and legal frameworks. It is a key tool for use by any actor, including small-scale fishers, who is interested in contributing to the SSF Guidelines operationalization at the national level. By using this tool, users are able to recognize the national policy and legal instruments that are relevant to small-scale fisheries in a country, consistent with the SSF Guidelines. Users are also able to: assess policy coherence for SSF; assess the alignment of national fisheries policy and legal instruments with the SSF Guidelines; identify gaps and strengths in these instruments; and further propose recommendations for improving the existing national policy and legal framework according with the SSF Guidelines.

This document contains the report of the subregional training workshop on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and fisheries for the Pacific Island Countries, jointly organized by the Development Law Service of the FAO Legal Office and the CITES Secretariat, in collaboration with FAO Subregional Office for the Pacific and the FAO Offices in the concerned countries. The workshop was held virtually from 15 to 17 November 2021. The workshop aimed at raising awareness and strengthening the understanding of CITES implementation in the fisheries sector; introducing and training participants on the use of the FAO-CITES Legal Study and Guide; and identifying countries’ needs and interests in enhancing national fisheries legislation for a better implementation of CITES in the fisheries sector. A total of 85 participants joined the workshop, including from seven Pacific Islands Countries (Fiji, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu), other invited countries (Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America), four regional organizations – the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission – and fisheries experts from the civil society organizations, the CITES Secretariat and FAO.The three-day programme included presentations on CITES key principles and requirements and their applicability in the fisheries sector; clarifications on commercially-exploited aquatic species listed in CITES Appendix II; opportunities for collaboration between CITES and fisheries authorities; correlations between CITES and fisheries management; an introduction on how to use the FAO-CITES Legal Study and Guide; the relevance of FAO’s PSMA and CDS; and knowledge-sharing on practical experiences of CITES implementation at national and regional levels.Similar initiatives are planned for the future, including conducting a subregional workshop for certain Caribbean countries in 2022. These initiatives will have a similar agenda and build on the lessons learned from the subregional workshop for the Pacific Islands Countries.

The ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) is a risk-based management process for the planning, management, development, regulation and monitoring of fishing and fishing-related activities. EAF addresses ecological consequences of fishing as well as social, economic and institutional aspects of fisheries sustainability. Adequate legislation and regulatory frameworks are key to successful implementation of the EAF. The continuous review and update of information on legislation and regulatory instruments require the analysis of existing legal frameworks at all levels of governance, to assess whether they remain in force, valid and aligned with international fisheries law standards, including the EAF. The present work was prepared with a view to provide current information on how the EAF is being implemented through national legal frameworks of selected countries in Africa. It revisits a previous legal study prepared by Anniken Skonhoft and published by FAO in 2011. A decade later, based on the scope of that study, the present work provides updated data and contributes to the knowledge on the current global and regional legal frameworks for an EAF, which are vital for EAF implementation purposes. This update also re-analysed certain countries’ national legislation and their evolution with respect to capturing the EAF requirements. Ultimately, the present work supports the legal implementation of an EAF for a holistic, integrated and innovative way of managing fisheries that promotes the participation of all relevant stakeholders and the use of best available knowledge for decision making, whilst balancing the human dimensions with the care for the environment, habitats, ecosystems and biodiversity related with fishery resources on which they depend.

Legislating for an ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) is complex, due to the holistic nature of EAF involving multiple factors that underpin the social, economic, environmental, and institutional aspects of fisheries sustainability. These factors include ecosystems integration, risks, intersectoral collaboration, research, participatory processes, monitoring, control, surveillance, and enforcement, among others. To assess how an EAF is being implemented through national policy and legal frameworks, FAO developed a diagnostic tool for implementing an ecosystem approach to fisheries through national policy and legal frameworks. The present legal report on the EAF used the diagnostic tool to assess the alignment of selected policy and legal instruments of Sri Lanka with an EAF. This assessment analysed the extent to which 82 EAF legal requirements, which are considered the minimum standards in legislating for an EAF, are reflected in Sri Lanka's policies and legislation relevant to the fisheries sector of the country and other relevant sectors (such as environment, wildlife, ecosystems, and maritime affairs). Based on this preliminary diagnosis, gaps were identified in the assessed instruments, and recommendations were made for improving the implementation of an EAF.This report was elaborated following a participatory approach with the involvement of the national competent authorities of Sri Lanka. Drafted in July 2021, the report was submitted to the national authorities of Sri Lanka in October 2021, and revised in October 2022. The National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) and the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DFAR) endorsed this EAF Legal Report in January 2023.

Legislating for the ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) is complex, due to the holistic nature of the EAF involving multiple factors that underpin the social, economic, environmental, and institutional aspects of fisheries sustainability. These factors include ecosystems integration, risks, intersectoral collaboration, research, participatory processes, monitoring, control, surveillance, and enforcement, among others. To assess how the EAF is being implemented through national policy and legal frameworks, FAO developed A diagnostic tool for implementing an ecosystem approach to fisheries through national policy and legal frameworks. The present legal report on the EAF used the diagnostic tool to assess the alignment of selected policy and legal instruments of Cabo Verde with the EAF. This assessment analysed the extent to which 82 EAF legal requirements, which are considered the minimum standards in legislating for the EAF, are reflected in Cabo Verde's policies and legislation relevant to the fisheries sector of the country and other relevant sectors (such as environment, wildlife, ecosystems, and maritime affairs). Based on this preliminary diagnosis, gaps were identified in the assessed instruments, and recommendations were made for improving the implementation of the EAF. This report was elaborated following a participatory approach with the involvement of the national competent authorities of Cabo Verde. Drafted in July 2021, the report was submitted to the national authorities of Cabo Verde in October 2021, further revised in view of the adoption of additional relevant legal instruments by Cabo Verde and the integration of the conclusions and recommendations from the Coastal Fisheries Initiative Report from August 2022. The report was re-submitted to the national authorities in October 2022. The National Directorate of Fisheries and Aquaculture, under the Ministry of the Sea, endorsed this EAF Legal Report of Cabo Verde in October 2022.