Do CITES trade restrictions work? Some evidence from the markets for sawfish trophies

Santiago Gómez-Rodríguez,James R Wilson

doi:10.1051/alr/2022003

Abstract

The durability of animal parts that are collected and traded as trophies has an impact on species sustainability, especially when animals are slow-growing, have low fecundity, or are particularly vulnerable to capture. CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), aims to control the trade of wild fauna and flora specifically by using trade restrictions as a policy option. However, specialists in international trade have advised against using trade restrictions to correct social cost issues. The reasons for this advice have to do with the unintended economic consequences of animals being placed on an endangered species list, coupled with the trade restrictions themselves. We focused on Pristis spp. (sawfish), a species in danger of extinction found in Appendix I of the CITES convention. An extensive search of sawfish saws for sale on the internet was performed during 2016 and 2017. A total of 174 observations of market prices were collected. We estimated several models linking prices to the size of the saw with other variables that might explain price variability using OLS regression, and which included data from both the original internet searches and additional variables, including a dummy variable which indicated the year in which the species group was placed in Appendix I. These models show that rather than slow down the extinction pathway for this species, CITES may have sped it up, as well as driving the sawfish trophy markets underground.

Highlights

Many species of terrestrial flora and fauna might be classed as common pool resources, and the interactions between fish stocks and fisheries are often classic examples of the common pool problem
A log– log specification was estimated with the independent variables SIZE; CITES DUM 07; and DUMCITES07*LNTREND
This regression showed that the parameter associated with this instrumental variable was negative, suggesting that the effects of the trend on prices were less after the species was added to Appendix I of CITES

Summary

Introduction

Many species of terrestrial flora and fauna might be classed as common pool resources, and the interactions between fish stocks and fisheries are often classic examples of the common pool problem. Placing trade restrictions usually reduces trade volume, but it raises prices for the restricted good (e.g. ivory) (Kremer and Morcon, 2000) These price changes may incite over-exploitation of the underlying asset (in this case, the animal itself) especially in poorer countries where public management of goods may be less developed. It is hard to imagine any attempt at managing public goods like fisheries resources, without at the same time investigating markets, market structures, as well as prices and the price system For these reasons, understanding the production and marketing chain of the body parts is important in determining the risks of environmental and economic loss associated with the overexploitation of this species group.

Data gathering

Analysis of data

Results and analysis

Discussion