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Stress on species survival

THE HAGUE: In a shift of direction, the international body overseeing wildlife trade will consider limitations on commercial fisheries and timber trade, its director has said, and may regulate such species as the shark popular in fish and chips and the aromatic cedar tree used for fine furniture and humidors.

The ongoing struggles to control elephant poaching and to protect tigers from extinction are also on the agenda of the 12-day meeting of the 171-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which got off here on Sunday. CITES, a treaty that came into force in 1975, will wade into commercial issues as never before, hoping to intervene before species' survival reaches a serious level of risk, said its secretary general Willem Wijnstekers.

Until now, CITES has stepped in ``at a far too late stage, when the species were already or almost commercially extinct,'' he said, referring specially to timber like mahogany.

The full conference will discuss measures to stiffen protection for elephants, tigers, whales and great apes. — AP

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