Notification to the Parties

CONCERNING:

Conservation of Acipenseriformes

1. Decision 11.59 states that "all Parties engaged in trade in sturgeon and paddlefish specimens should report to the Secretariat on the progress made to implement the measures agreed upon in Resolution Conf. 10.12 (Rev.) and on their national management strategies for Acipenseriformes prior to the 18th meeting of the Animals Committee."

2. Decision 11.152 requires the Secretariat to "prepare a report with recommendations regarding implementation by Parties of the measures agreed upon in Resolution Conf. 10.12 (Rev.) and, after review by the Parties concerned, submit it for consideration at the 18th meeting of the Animals Committee."

3. Aspects of the implementation of Resolution Conf. 10.12 (Rev.) on the conservation of surgeons have received much attention this year, notably the Review of Significant Trade in Acipenseriformes and subsequent agreements reached at the 45th meeting of the Standing Committee (Paris, June 2001) on further actions by some range States and the Secretariat; the development of a universal caviar labelling system and various activities aimed at combating illegal trade. The Secretariat has obtained through these processes much information from the Parties concerning the status of their conservation efforts and management of Acipenseriformes species as well as issues related to the control of trade in Acipenseriformes specimens. The results have been summarized in several documents and reported to the Animals Committee, the Standing Committee and to the Parties (see for instance documents Doc. AC16.7.2, SC45 Doc. 12, AC17 Doc. 7.1, Notifications to the Parties Nos. 2001/041, 2001/042, 2001/045, 2001/056, 2001/065, 2001/075, all available on the CITES website, and CITES Alerts to enforcement agencies). Further information has been collected as part of the Secretariat’s ongoing liaison with range States, participation in meetings such as the meeting of Black Sea-Danube River States on sturgeon conservation and management in October 2001, Sofia, Bulgaria, as well as the verification and enforcement-related missions that the Secretariat conducted in the Caspian States and the United Arab Emirates pursuant to decisions of the Standing Committee at its 45th meeting.

4. The Secretariat will be able to make use of the information already provided to compile the report and recommendations outlined in paragraph 2, but would also like to give any Party engaged in trade in Acipenseriformes specimens a further opportunity to provide additional information, particularly information on:

i) the implementation of Resolution Conf. 10.12 (Rev.) in countries and for species that have not been included in the Review of Significant Trade or that have not been subject to recommendations of the Standing Committee;

ii) measures taken by range States to restore, maintain and protect migration routes and spawning grounds for all species, including those that have been severely depleted in the European region (e.g. Acipenser naccarii and A. sturio), and species endemic to central and southern Asia (i.e. Acipenser mikadoi, A. sinensis, A. dabryanus, Psephurus gladius and Pseudoscaphirhynchus species);

iii) measures taken by range States that exploit Acipenseriformes stocks commercially to reinvest a part of their trade revenues in conservation measures or in support of sustainable management of such stocks;

iv) the results of research conducted as part of scientific or non-commercial fisheries of sturgeon populations in the European-Asian region; and

v) opportunities that may exist, through the collaboration between range States and importing countries, to provide more tangible support to Parties that exploit Acipenseriformes stocks commercially, which include several Parties that have recently joined the Convention.

5. The 18th meeting of the Animals Committee will be held from 8 to 12 April 2002, and the Secretariat therefore requests that information provided pursuant to this Notification be submitted by 23 January 2002 in order to meet the deadlines for submission of documents for that meeting.