Delegates to an international conference for protecting wildlife adopted proposals to regulate international trade in more than 500 new species, including the first regulations aimed at the shark fin trade that each year kills off millions of sharks.
Representatives of more than 160 governments that are part of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, voted to limit or regulate commercial trade dozens of shark species, including the tiger, bull and blue sharks most targeted for the fin trade, and shark-like rays.
The summit voted to protect 100 species of sharks and rays, more than 150 tree species, 160 amphibian species, including tropical frogs, 50 turtle and tortoise species and several species of songbirds – all of which have suffered declining populations in recent years.
The votes came at the end of two weeks of negotiations during a summit in Panama, where delegates adopted 46 of the 52 proposals that were put forward.
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