International trade in marine species: Is CITES a useful control mechanism?

Abstract

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was created to prevent species becoming threatened through international trade. It generally prohibits international commercial trade in seriously threatened species but permits trade in a regulated manner in species vulnerable to exploitation but not yet at risk of extinction. CITES covers comparatively few marine taxa, reflecting the fact that most marine species have much greater ranges and fecundity than terrestrial species and so are more resilient to exploitation. Exceptions are to be found in the higher vertebrates. Several marine mammals may have benefited from CITES controls, although their popular appeal, commercial importance, and extreme vulnerability have meant that other treaties and conservation activities have been adopted to control their exploitation. Marine turtles Cheloniidae and the estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) certainly have benefited from CITES controls. Many commercially important fishes and invertebrates are covered by international and regional fishery agreements; a few, with life histories making them particularly vulnerable to exploitation, are subject to CITES controls. The structure of CITES limits its utility as a conservation tool for marine species, but where other mechanisms fail or are absent, it plays a useful role, and it is particularly valuable as an international trade monitoring mechanism.