Highlights for Tuesday, 9 February 2010

On Tuesday morning, parties completed the initial read through of the draft Conservation and Management Plan for Migratory Sharks, discussed new preambular text, and began negotiating the removal of brackets in the text. Recognizing the limited time for negotiations on the draft CMP, Chair Hogan suggested that a revised draft CMP may need to be considered on the margins of the MoU negotiations and noted that many delegations may be hesitant to sign the MoU before the CMP is in place. Chair Hogan reiterated that the CMP remains non-binding and that overly prescriptive language will be revised. Delegates discussed articles on encouraging states to develop plans of action and on mechanisms of enhancement of cooperation and promotion of information exchange. On the preamble, delegates highlighted the need for consistency in the language used in the draft CMP text and in the draft MoU. Delegates also considered revised text on capacity building and shark finning.

In the afternoon, Executive Secretary Mrema invited delegates to consider aspects of the MoU that address the CMP in order to ensure harmonization between the two documents. The EC offered to lead a redraft of the section in the MoU on the CMP and an informal consultation took place with the view to providing plenary with a proposal on the modalities for reintegrating Annex III into the MoU. The EU presented a redraft of the text. Chair Hogan called on delegates with concerns to consult informally to reach consensus.

Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity resources
Provisional Agenda of SHARKS III
Meeting Documents
Meeting Documents from SHARKS II

IISD RS resources
IISD RS coverage of SHARKS II, 6-8 December 2008, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Headquarters, Rome, Italy
IISD RS coverage of the Ninth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 9) to the CMS, 1-5 December 2008, FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy
IISD RS coverage of the Fourth Meeting of the Parties (MOP-4) to the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA), 15-19 September 2008, Antananarivo, Madagascar
IISD RS coverage of the First Meeting to Identify and Elaborate an Option for International Cooperation on Migratory Sharks, 11-13 December 2007, Mahé, Seychelles
IISD RS coverage of CMS COP 8, 20-25 November 2005, Nairobi, Kenya
IISD RS coverage of CMS COP 7 and AEWA MOP-2, 25-27 September 2002, Bonn, Germany
IISD RS coverage of CMS COP 6, 4-16 November 1999, Cape Town, South Africa
IISD RS archive of meetings on biodiversity, and backgrounder
Linkages Update - Bi-weekly international environment and sustainable development news
MEA Bulletin - Newsletter on key MEAs and their secretariats
Climate Change Policy & Practice - News and information on the actions of international organizations in responding to the problem of global climate change
African Regional Coverage