Sarah Fowler has worked in marine conservation for over 25 years and has been deputy, acting or co-chair of the Shark Specialist Group (SSG) since its inception in 1991 . A new co-chair from a developing region is currently being sought to form the other half of the SSG leadership.

 “The quadrennium started on a sad note, with Executive Officer Rachel Cavanagh leaving after over four years in the post. The long-overdue  Shark Status Report , published in 2005 , forms only part of Rachel’s huge legacy. We now have a new team in the SSG office: Claudine Gibson as Programme Officer and Sarah Valenti as Red List Officer. They will continue the ambitious programme of working with the SSG network of taxonomists, researchers and fisheries scientists to complete Red List assessments for all chondrichthyan fishes in 2007 ,” says Sarah.

 “We are more than half way through this task, but regional workshops are still to be held in the Northeast Atlantic, West Africa, Indian Ocean and Northwest Pacific. In addition to completing species assessments, these workshops play an important role in increasing regional capacity and widening SSG membership globally. Red List assessments for our entire taxonomic group will contribute significantly to the Global Marine Species Assessment and provide a very important source of scientific information on which to base national, regional and international conservation and management priorities, decisions and policies affecting shark biodiversity.

” Other major areas of SSG activity include the provision of technical support to CITES and its Parties, and to UN Food and Agriculture Organization members seeking to implement the FAO International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks. International trade demand for shark products is implicated in driving unsustainable fisheries for many species, but trade controls cannot deliver sustainable fisheries. The promotion through the SSG of improved shark fisheries monitoring and management capacity is essential to deliver the Group’s mission: to promote the sustainable use, wise management and conservation of all chondrichthyan fishes including the promotion of sustainable shark fisheries management.