The CITES Secretariat was saddened to learn of the death of Dr Fábio Hazin of Brazil.
He served as the Chair of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) from 2007 to 2011 at a time when the conservation and sustainable use of Atlantic bluefin tuna was under very active discussion. He promoted cooperation between ICCAT and CITES and invited the then CITES Secretary-General to address the 17th Special Meeting of ICCAT in Paris, France in November 2010 which in turn led to the development of guidelines for cooperation between the organizations which were endorsed by the Standing Committee in 2012.
Representing Brazil, he co-chaired the Standing Committee Working Group on introduction from the sea from 2010 to 2013 and was instrumental in finding a consensus which allowed the CITES Parties to adopt Resolution Conf. 14.6 which agrees on the meaning of the terms ‘the marine environment not under the jurisdiction of any State’ and the ‘State of Introduction’ and provides guidance on this complex issue at CoP16 in 2013, 40 years after the Convention was adopted.
As an expert in sharks and rays, Dr Hazin was an advocate for the inclusion of hammerhead sharks and manta rays in the CITES Appendices at CoP16 and subsequently organized a Regional Workshop on Sharks Listed in Appendix II of CITES in Recife, Brazil in December 2013.
His great knowledge, pragmatism and diplomacy will be sorely missed. The Secretariat offers its sincere condolences to Dr Hazin’s family and friends, and to the staff of the CITES authorities in Brazil.