Seven Arab countries sign an agreement in Dubai that will protect migrating marine animals.

Marine life is exposed to an increasing pressure as a result of overfishing around the world. The fishing of more than 70 million sharks per year worldwide is a sad fact that has led conservation parties to address the problem seriously and with great care. The controversial issue, is that most of these species are immigrant fish, which therefore renders the issue of conservation highly dependent on international cooperation.

In line with international efforts, the majority of countries in the world have agreed on the inclusion of seven key species of sharks and Manta on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) which aims at providing these species with a considerable degree of conservation through organized fishing and trade internationally.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has further developed the idea and undertook a series of workshops to build the capacity of stakeholders to implement local and international legislations relevant to the conservation of marine life and specially sharks. For that reason, the Ministry of Environment and Water in the UAE and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) are holding a training workshop on "prevention of shark and other marine species trafficking" in Dubai starting Tomorrow.

During the week of the workshop IFAW and with the cooperation of CMS, an MOU ceremony aiming at protecting sharks in the middle east will take place allowing Arab Countries in the region to sign.

For more information, please contact:
Ziad Samaha - Programme Manager: ziad.samaha@iucn.org