- A recent panel discussion at a global conference on sharks and rays explored how the newly adopted Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, or the High Seas Treaty, could transform conservation of migratory sharks known to travel across national borders into international waters.
- Speakers highlighted sharks’ vulnerability once they leave protected national waters, emphasizing how effective conservation requires international cooperation to avoid threats from industrial fishing, bycatch, and habitat degradation across geographical boundaries.
- The treaty creates a legal framework for establishing marine protected areas in the high seas, with scientists noting that Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs) could help identify critical migratory routes and habitats for future protection.
- Panelists said the agreement on BBNJ marks a historic shift in ocean governance, but warned that enforcement, political cooperation and coordination with treaties such as CITES, the Convention on Migratory Species and the Convention on Biological Diversity will be essential for meaningful shark conservation.
COLOMBO – As the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, commonly known as the High Seas Treaty, officially came into force in January, shark scientists and conservationists who gathered in Sri Lanka hailed the landmark treaty as one that could reshape the future of migratory shark and ray conservation by finally creating a pathway to protect species that traverse vast oceanic boundaries beyond any single nation’s control.
“Invisible political lines of controls that we draw on maps mean nothing for the ocean’s long-distance travelers,” said marine biologist Asha de Vos, founder of the Colombo-based Oceanswell during a panel discussion at the Sharks International 2026 (SI2026). “Once these animals swim away from protected areas, they immediately become vulnerable again, so the BBNJ is a very important first step in protecting these highly migratory species.”
The session, titled “Sharks know no boundaries: The future of shark conservation under BBNJ regime,” at SI2026 explored how the treaty could strengthen protection for migratory sharks and rays whose ranges extend across territorial waters and international seas.
Many sharks and rays are highly migratory, so they move across enormous oceanic ranges, passing through the waters of multiple countries and into the high seas where governance has historically been fragmented and weak. The Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) lists at least 38 highly migratory shark species, while several migratory rays — including manta and devil rays — are also known to undertake long-distance oceanic movements.
The high seas cover nearly two-thirds of the world’s ocean but have long lacked comprehensive biodiversity protections. “Even the little protection sharks receive inside national exclusive economic zones or the EEZs is getting lost when they move to the high seas and are vulnerable again as they enter international waters. Protection within one country alone is not enough,” de Vos said, adding that industrial fishing, bycatch, habitat degradation and climate change all extend beyond political boundaries and require a coordinated international action plan.
While the treaty is not exclusively focused on migratory species, she said it could become a critical tool for protecting species because marine ecosystems are inherently dynamic and interconnected. De Vos also noted the importance of mandatory environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for regulating the activities planned in the high seas.
“Protection must happen now as we do not need to wait for a 100% complete dataset. The information we already have is sufficient to move forward in activities such as setting up high seas marine protected areas,” she added.
Need for coordination
Sri Lanka is the 58th country to ratify the BBNJ treaty, formally joining the international effort to ensure international ocean governance and conservation.
Tilani Silva, Sri Lanka’s deputy legal advisor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who participated in the BBNJ negotiation process, noted that the treaty should not operate in isolation and underscored the importance of linking the treaty with existing international agreements.
Silva highlighted the importance of coordination with agreements such as the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Such coordination, she said, would be essential for effective implementation.
For Sri Lanka, located along major migratory routes in the Indian Ocean, the treaty could hold particular significance. Many shark and ray species passing through the Sri Lankan waters, including threatened pelagic sharks, spend much of their lives outside national jurisdictions where protections remain inconsistent.
Sharks and rays under pressure
Daniel Fernando, co-founder of the Blue Resources Trust (BRT) who leads BRT’s fisheries and policy program noted how fisheries across the Indian Ocean are under mounting pressure, with many fish stocks already overexploited, especially due to widespread fishing methods — particularly gill nets — that affect a broad range of marine species, including sharks and rays. “What we are seeing is not just a coastal issue. These impacts extend across the Indian Ocean and into the high seas,” Fernando said. The declining fisheries would also threaten the livelihoods of thousands of small-scale fishers, particularly in developing countries such as Sri Lanka, who depend directly on healthy marine ecosystems, he said.
Fernando also said that sharks and rays are increasingly harvested not for local consumption but for international trade. “Shark fins and ray gill plates continue to have a high demand in Southeast Asian markets, but we also see new markets emerging.”
According to Fernando, ray fins command exceptionally high prices, while ray skins are increasingly being used in luxury leather products such as wallets, leather belts and shoes. More recently, he said, ray skin leather materials have entered high-end European yacht markets where they are used as decorative interior linings. “This may create more demand driving highly unsustainable exploitation,” he warned.
Fernando also referred to the expansion of fishing fleets farther offshore as coastal fisheries decline. “The more pressure we place on coastal waters, the more fishers move into the high seas,” he said. “Once incomes from coastal fishing are no longer sufficient, people will invest in larger boats and travel farther. We must all take timely action before these stocks become depleted.”
At the root of the crisis, Fernando noted, is the widespread perception that oceans are limitless. Sri Lanka has more than 52,000 fishing vessels, with around 2,500 licensed to operate in the high seas. Yet governance mechanisms specifically targeting sharks and rays remain limited. “Apart from the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, which mainly focuses on tuna, there are not enough strong measures specifically for sharks and rays,” he said.
Fernando noted that efforts to reduce bycatch and fisheries regulations have achieved some progress but said these measures are highly insufficient.
“There are serious gaps in enforcement capacity, institutional coordination and legal preparedness when addressing crimes and conservation challenges in the high seas. Threatened sharks and rays should ultimately require protection like those afforded to iconic terrestrial wildlife such as elephants and leopards, including the possibility of restricting commercial exploitation,” he said.
“While the high seas treaty cannot protect species one by one, it provides us a framework to start protecting the ecosystems and habitats these species depend on.” Fernando added.
Equity and benefit sharing
Daniel Kachelriess, the cross-cutting coordinator of the High Seas Alliance noted that equity remained a central principle throughout the BBNJ negotiations, with small island and developing nations playing a lead role as they bear the brunt with depleting marine resources directly affects their livelihoods and food security.
He noted that the treaty was designed not only around conservation measures such as area-based management tools and the protection of important shark and ray areas, but also around fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from marine genetic resources found in the high seas.
Kachelriess said the agreement included both monetary and non-monetary benefit-sharing mechanisms, including access to scientific knowledge, technology transfer, research collaboration, and financial frameworks intended to ensure that all countries benefit from resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction — not only wealthy nations with advanced research capacity.
He also called for transparency, information sharing, capacity building, and coordination among global frameworks such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its 30×30 conservation target in creating a more connected and inclusive system of ocean governance.
Banner Image: Protection for highly migratory sharks such as this blue shark (Prionace glauca) often ends at the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of nation states, highlighting the importance of high seas conservation amid growing threat of overfishing. Image courtesy of Hannes Klostermann via Ocean Image Bank.
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