SEAFDEC Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center
The SEAFDEC Secretariat organized the “Regional Technical Consultation (RTC) on Development of the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Common Positions on the Proposed Listing of Commercially-exploited Aquatic Species (CEAS) into the CITES Appendices” on 30 August–1 September 2022 in Bangkok, Thailand. The RTC was attended by fisheries experts and National Coordinators from the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Member Countries, namely: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam; officers from the SEAFDEC Secretariat and Departments, namely: TD, AQD, MFRDMD, and IFRDMD; as well as resource persons from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), academes, and relevant agencies. During the RTC, the discussion focused on the technical information and views of countries on the proposed listing of CEAS into the CITES Appendices i.e. Carcharhinidae spp., Potomotrygon spp. Rhinobatidae spp., Sphyrnidae spp, Thelonota spp. Moreover, the additional species Hypancistrus zebra and Crocodylus siamensis were also discussed by the countries.
Subsequently, the RTC developed the document “Positions of the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Member Countries on the Proposed Listing of Commercially-exploited Aquatic Species (CEAS) into the CITES Appendices at the CITES-CoP19.” The document would be approved by the SEAFDEC Council and ASEAN mechanism prior to the forthcoming 19th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CoP19) on 14–25 November 2022 in Panama City, Panama. It is envisaged that the document would be reflected by the ASEAN-SEAFDEC Member Countries during the CITES-CoP19.
The RTC was one of the activities under the Japanese Trust Fund project “Assistance for Capacity Development in the Region to Address International Fisheries-related Issues.”
