Prof. Hakoyama Presents at the SEAFDEC Common Positions Meeting (Bangkok, Thailand)
The Regional Technical Consultation on Development of the ASEAN–SEAFDEC Common Positions on the Proposed Listing of Commercially-exploited Aquatic Species into the CITES Appendices (for CITES CoP20) was held in Bangkok, Thailand, on 16–18 September 2025 (organized by SEAFDEC with support from the Government of Japan Trust Fund).
Participants included country representatives from Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand (with Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, and Viet Nam joining online), FAO, academic experts, and SEAFDEC departments (Secretariat/TD/AQD/MFRDMD/IFRDMD).
Prof. Hiroshi Hakoyama (IFB) presented on Proposal 35—the Appendix II proposal concerning the genus Anguilla (including Japanese eel and American eel)—highlighting:
- Japanese eel in East Asia forms a single panmictic population, with glass eels arriving from a shared spawning area via ocean currents; therefore, regional indices can represent the stock as a whole.
- Based on IUCN Criterion E (probability of extinction), the estimated risk is below the thresholds for CR/EN, with narrow confidence intervals.
- Accordingly, Japanese eel should be addressed as a regional fisheries management issue rather than a CITES listing issue.
- The same reasoning can apply to other widely distributed marine species with large populations, where Criterion A (decline-based) assessments can overestimate risk.
During the RTC, 11 proposals for commercially-exploited aquatic species (CEAS)—including sharks and rays, sea cucumbers, and abalone—were discussed using FAO Expert Panel results and country information, and a draft of the ASEAN–SEAFDEC common/coordinated positions was compiled.
Reference: SEAFDEC official report SEAFDEC organizes Regional Technical Consultation on ASEAN–SEAFDEC Common Positions for CITES CoP20
