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Aquatic Wild Meat

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Table of Contents

  1. Preamble
  2. Paragraph 1.
  4. Paragraph 3.
  5. Paragraph 4.

Aquatic Wild Meat

Aware that many migratory aquatic species listed on the Appendices of CMS, including cetaceans, sirenians, crocodiles, turtles and seabirds, are affected by harvesting as wild meat in many regions of the world, and that there is evidence that the demand is increasing,Defining, for the purposes of this Resolution, aquatic wild meat as the products derived from aquatic megafauna (e.g., mammals, sea turtles and crocodiles) that are used for food and non-food purposes,Concerned that the harvest of aquatic wild meat may be detrimental to the immediate survival of certain species and may be one of a number of pressures impacting an even greater number of species,Recognizing that a changing climate, scarcity of other meat sources and community displacement by industrial mining, commercial forestry, palm oil plantations and distant-water fishing fleets has forced many communities into marginal areas, and their reliance on aquatic wild meat has grown,Welcoming the adoption of Decision XI/25 (2012), Decision XII/18 (2014) and Decision XIII/8 (2016) on Sustainable Use of Biodiversity: Bushmeat and Sustainable Wildlife Management by the 11th, 12th and 13th Meetings of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity respectively,Also welcoming the establishment of the Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management (CPW) in 2013,Appreciative of the continuing work of the Small Cetacean Sub-Committee of the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), which has been prioritised to better understand the extent of small cetacean hunting in Asia, South America and Africa,Recognizing that for all CMS-listed species, a favourable conservation status should be achieved or maintained,Further recognizing that CMS Appendix I-listed species cannot be harvested except under very specific circumstances, as described in Article III 5 (c) of the Convention,Emphasizing that all bodies of the Convention can support the efforts of Parties to achieve conservation and sustainable use of CMS-listed species subject to harvest as aquatic wild meat, in accordance with the provisions of the Convention,The Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals
1.Requests the Scientific Council to establish a thematic Working Group dealing with aquatic wild meat, to provide expert advice to the CMS Parties, to collaborate with relevant organizations such as the International Whaling Commission (IWC), and to coordinate science and policy participation with the relevant Memoranda of Understanding concluded under CMS, and consulting with the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas (ASCOBANS) and the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic area (ACCOBAMS) as relevant;
2.Recommends that Parties, non-Party Range States and other stakeholders, including non-governmental organizations, cooperate, as appropriate, to:
a.increase collaboration and information sharing among CMS Parties to understand better and monitor aquatic wild meat harvests;
b.increase scientific knowledge and understanding of the impacts of subsistence use of CMS-listed species as aquatic wild meat on the survival and regeneration of these species, in the context of growing human populations and pressures on wildlife resources and ecosystems;
c.provide adequate financial, technical and capacity support to ensure that the harvest of CMS-listed species of aquatic wild meat for subsistence purposes is legal and sustainable;
3.Urges Parties, and relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, to recognize the important role they can play in providing capacity-building assistance, especially to Range State Parties, in managing the impact of aquatic wild meat harvests and tackling the associated issues of poverty, habitat degradation, human population growth and overexploitation of natural resources; and
4.Requests the Working Group, subject to availability of resources, to report its findings and any proposals for future work through the CMS Scientific Council to each meeting of the Conference of the Parties.