Some of you may be familiar with the links between international trade demand for croaker fish swim bladders (also known as maws) and fisheries that bycatch cetaceans and other threatened marine wildlife (see here).  To better understand the scope and scale of this issue, and to identify potential geographical regions and/or target or bycatch species that are not yet on our 'radar' the IUCN Cetacean specialist Group is partnering with other organisations to circulate a questionnaire survey to (1) obtain information that could support the development and promotion of a CITES proposal to list one or more croaker species highly valued for their maws in CITES Appendix I or II, and (2) identify and prioritize marine wildlife populations that need urgent conservation attention to avoid extinction from the intensification of fisheries driven by trade demand for croaker fish maws.

We would be grateful if you could click here and complete the questionnaire survey on fisheries and international trade in high-value croaker swim bladders or maws and associated bycatch of marine wildlife. If you do not have any knowledge about fisheries catching croakers, trade in croaker maws, or bycatches of cetaceans or other marine wildlife in fisheries catching croakers, you may stop the survey at question #5. Assuming that information from this survey proves useful for developing and promoting a CITES proposal and prioritizing marine wildlife populations affected by trade demand for croaker maws, the questionnaire will also be circulated to other relevant IUCN SSC specialist groups with species that are buycaught in the maw trade.  Please complete the survey by June 10^th.

Link to survey: 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeTUvs40ROu6HcNX70a9wEmBlzjKdT5DXmCjsRRrREWgXoo6w/viewform?usp=publish-editor