This document contains the report of the regional training workshop on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), fisheries, and legal acquisition findings (LAFs) for 13 Latin American and Caribbean countries, jointly organized by the Development Law Service of the FAO Legal Office and the CITES Secretariat, in collaboration with the FAO Offices for Ecuador and Latin America and the Caribbean. [Author] The workshop was held in Spanish and in-person only from 8 to 11 May 2023. [Author] The workshop aimed to raise awareness and strengthen the understanding of CITES requirements and their implementation in the fisheries sector; introduce and train participants on the use of the FAO-CITES Legal Study and Guide; train participants on the use of the Rapid Guide for the Making of LAFs, available at Annex 3 of Resolution 18. [Author]7 (Rev. [Author] CoP19); and identify countries’ needs and interests for a better implementation of CITES in the fisheries sector. [Author] A total of 50 participants joined the workshop from 13 countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Venezuela [Bolivarian Republic of]), regional organizations (the Central American and Dominican Republic Wildlife Enforcement Network and Permanent Commission for the South Pacific), non-governmental organizations (Defenders of Wildlife and World Fund for Nature), the private sector (fishing enterprises), as well as the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, in addition to the CITES Secretariat and FAO. [Author] The four-day programme included presentations on CITES key principles and requirements and their applicability in the fisheries sector; clarifications on commercially exploited aquatic species listed in CITES Appendix II, opportunities for collaboration between CITES and fisheries authorities, correlations between CITES and fisheries management; introduction on how to use the FAO-CITES Legal Study and Guide; the relevance to CITES of the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, Catch Documentation Scheme, and associated technical guidelines. [Author] Additionally, the workshop promoted the use of the Rapid Guide for the Making of LAFs. [Author] This is the third of a series of legal training workshops on CITES and fisheries organized by the CITES Secretariat and FAO. [Author] The first and second workshops were held at the subregional level, respectively, for Pacific Island countries (November 2021) and English-speaking Caribbean countries (May–June 2022). [Author]

The report presents the latest assessment of global trends in wildlife crime. It includes discussions on illicit rosewood, ivory, rhino horn, pangolin scales, live reptiles, tigers and other big cats, and European eel. The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has highlighted that wildlife crime is a threat not only to the environment and biodiversity, but also to human health, economic development and security. Zoonotic diseases - those caused by pathogens that spread from animals to humans - represent up to 75% of all emerging infectious diseases. Trafficked wild species and the resulting products offered for human consumption, by definition, escape any hygiene or sanitary control, and therefore pose even greater risks of infection.

The trafficking of wildlife is increasingly recognized as both a specialized area of organized crime and a significant threat to many plant and animal species. The World Wildlife Crime Report 2016 takes stock of the present wildlife crime situation with a focus on illicit trafficking of specific protected species of wild fauna and flora, and provides a broad assessment of the nature and extent of the problem at the global level. It includes a quantitative market assessment and a series of in-depth illicit trade case studies.

Fish and fish products are amongst the most highly traded food items in the world today, with most of the world’s countries reporting some fish trade. This assessment of commercial trade in CITES-listed marine species occurs within a broader context of globalization and a more general rapid expansion of the international trade in fish and fish products. It summarizes ten years (2007–2016) of trade in a subset of commercially exploited marine taxa listed in CITES Appendix II. We examine both CITES trade data reporting processes (including information on the practical elements of reporting by CITES Parties) and analyse CITES trade records. The analysis shows how, for Appendix II CITES-listed marine species, the overall number of direct export transactions reported by CITES Parties has increased sevenfold during 1990–2016 and how trade for each CITES-listed marine species sub-group has changed through time. An assessment is made, with assistance from species and trade experts, on the strengths and challenges of collating and reporting on trade in CITES-listed marine species. Additional datasets of relevance to marine species trade are highlighted, and recommendations for further refining and improving CITES trade reporting for marine species are provided.

The overall objective of this 10-year Regional Queen Conch Fishery Management and Conservation Plan is to guide the implementation of a set of identified management measures that can be applied at the regional or sub-regional level for the sustainability of queen conch populations and for the maintenance of a healthy fishery and livelihood of the people involved in the fishery. The ecosystem approach forms the basis of this Regional Queen Conch Fishery Management and Conservation Plan, enhanci ng partnerships and collaboration throughout the Wider Caribbean region to improve the long-term governance of queen conch fisheries across the Caribbean. The Regional Queen Conch Fishery Management and Conservation Plan was formulated with the following specific objectives: 1. To improve the collection and integration of scientific data needed to determine the overall queen conch population status as the basis for the application of ecosystem-based management. 2. To harmonize measures aimed a t increasing the stability of the queen conch population and to implement best-management practices for a sustainable fishery. 3. To increase coordination and collaboration toward achieving better education and outreach, monitoring and research, co-management and strengthening, optimizing and harmonizing regional governance arrangements. 4. To adopt regional management measures, which incorporate the precautionary approach

The conservation, sustainable use and development of aquatic genetic resources (AqGR) is critical to the future supply of fish. The State of the World’s Aquatic Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is the first ever global assessment of these resources, with the scope of this first Report being limited to cultured AqGR and their wild relatives, within national jurisdiction. The Report draws on 92 reports from FAO member countries and five specially commissioned thematic background studies. The reporting countries are responsible for 96 percent of global aquaculture production. The Report sets the context with a review of the state of world’s aquaculture and fisheries and includes overviews of the uses and exchanges of AqGR, the drivers and trends impacting AqGR and the extent of ex situ and in situ conservation efforts. The Report also investigates the roles of stakeholders in AqGR and the levels of activity in research, education, training and extension, and reviews national policies and the levels of regional and international cooperation on AqGR. Finally, needs and challenges are assessed in the context of the findings from the data collected from the countries. The Report represents a snapshot of the present status of AqGR and forms a valuable technical reference document, particularly where it presents standardized key terminology and concepts.

The Darwin Elasmobranch Biodiversity Conservation and Management project in Sabah held a three-day international seminar that included a one-day workshop in order to highlight freshwater and coastal elasmobranch conservation issues in the region and worldwide, to disseminate the result of the project to other Malaysian states and countries, and to raise awareness of the importance of considering aspects of elasmobranch biodiversity in the context of nature conservation, commercial fisheries management, and for subsistence fishing communities. These proceedings contain numerous peer-reviewed papers originally presented at the seminar, which cover a wide range of topics, with particular reference to species from freshwater and estuarine habitats. The workshop served to develop recommendations concerning the future prospects of elasmobranch fisheries, biodiversity, conservation and management. This paper records those conclusions, which highlight the importance of elasmobranchs as top marine predators and keystone species, noting that permanent damage to shark and ray populations are likely to have serious and unexpected negative consequences for commercial and subsistence yields of other important fish stocks.