From IPOA Sharks to Sharks MoU Under the Convention on Migratory Species: Progress or Clutter in International Environmental Law?

Abstract The conservation and management of sharks is regulated under different international instruments of varying degrees of specificity and with different legal purposes. Two international instruments targeted at the conservation and management of sharks are the International Plan of Action for Sharks and the Sharks Memorandum of Understanding, which was adopted under the Convention on Migratory Species. This article examines and compares these two non-binding instruments, querying not only what was gained from the adoption of an additional non-binding instrument in the Sharks MoU just ten years after the IPOA Sharks but also how the accumulation of soft law instruments may operate within the framework of international environmental law. We show that such instruments do serve different purposes and can serve the ultimate goal of improving the conservation status of sharks, as well as thickening international environmental law to the benefit of species conservation.