DUBAI // The international trade in endangered hammerhead sharks could become regulated for the first time under plans to be outlined at a conservation event this week.
The trade in the sharks - sold at Deira Fish Market - could even be banned if scientific studies find populations are being severely reduced by fishing.
At present there are no controls on the international trade of three types of shark covered by the proposal - the great, scalloped and smooth hammerheads.
Last month, The National reported that threatened shark species were being sold in large numbers at Deira for their fins, which are used to make soup. The trade is legal.
The three hammerhead species in the proposal are among those regularly sold at the market. The great and scalloped sharks are officially classified as endangered, while the smooth species is threatened.
Delegates at this week's Shark Conservation in Arabia workshop in Dubai will be urged to back a move to increase the protection given to the sharks.
A decision on the plan will be made at a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) conference in Bangkok in March. If the proposal is passed, the international trade in the three species would become tightly controlled. Export permits would be needed to transport the sharks and products made from them between countries.
This would affect the Deira market as many of the hammerheads sold there come from Oman, and most of the fins are exported to China. The UAE is the world's fifth largest exporter of shark fins.
Permits would be issued only if the specimen were legally obtained and the trade was not detrimental to the survival of the species. However, Cites regulations do not apply to domestic trade.
"International trade would be illegal if the hammerheads at Deira came from areas where they should not be caught," said Dr Ralf Sonntag, a shark expert at the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw).
"If, say, Oman can produce a document showing fishing is not detrimental for the shark, that there is science showing they have lots of hammerheads, then it is allowed. If that is not the case then this trade should be stopped."
But there is a lack of data about hammerhead populations in the region, so research would have to be carried out to determine their status.
The aim of the proposal is to prevent the devastation of hammerhead populations that has happened elsewhere. Conservationists say the population in the Mediterranean has fallen 99.99 per cent from its original level.
"These three species are all under threat," Dr Sonntag said. "There are no exact figures for the numbers in this region, or many other regions, but the population is massively under pressure.
"It would be very important to protect them so they can recover. It would help save them."
Dr Elsayed Mohamed, Ifaw's Middle East regional director, said: "If we continue catching sharks without regulation and monitoring we will lose some species."
Over-fishing to meet the booming demand for fin soup, which is regarded as a rare and prestigious delicacy in China, is the biggest threat to sharks.
The global shark-fin trade has been estimated to be worth as much as US$1.2billion (Dh4.4bn), but the rest of the carcass is of little value. It is estimated that more than 70 million sharks are killed each year for their fins.
Ifaw is staging the workshop in partnership with the Ministry of Environment and Water and Sharkquest Arabia.
The four-day event, which starts tomorrow, will be attended by government officials from across the region as well as scientists from both the region and beyond. Only invited guests will be able to attend.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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