Sera Brown (WWF-Singapore) and Kelly Morgan (TRACE Wildlife Forensics Network) jointly presented ShellBank at the CEFAS Maritime IWT Conference
From February 25-27 2025, the CEFAS Maritime IWT Conference — Innovative Technologies to Tackle the Illegal Trade of Marine Species — was held in Singapore, bringing together experts from 14 countries to combat illegal wildlife trade at sea.
ShellBank was invited to present on its global DNA traceability toolkit and database for marine turtles in plenary, as an exhibitor and in a round table workshop. The team showcased some of the illegal turtle trade case studies we are currently working on with key government agencies in Southeast Asia.
Kelly Morgan, TRACE Wildlife Forensics Network and a member of the ShellBank team
The conference gathered representatives from NGOs, law enforcement, prosecutors, INTERPOL, UNODC, the CITES Secretariat, marine conservation scientists, and financial crime experts to explore and share innovative solutions for disrupting illegal trade networks and safeguarding marine biodiversity.
This discussion reinforced the vital role of advanced genetic technologies in tackling the maritime illegal wildlife trade and protecting endangered marine species, particularly marine turtles.
Conference participants speaking with ShellBank representatives at the exhibition
By leveraging ShellBank’s genetic reference data, law enforcers and conservationists can trace seized turtle products back to their nesting sites, helping to identify poaching hotspots and strengthen protection efforts while providing actionable intelligence or lines of evidence for IWT investigations.
The new biannual ShellBank (2023/2024) report will be released by April 2025 — find it under Resources & Media on this website.
This blog was first published on ShellBank’s LinkedIn and is penned by Kelly Morgan from TRACE Wildlife Forensics Network and Sera Brown from WWF-Singapore, who represented the ShellBank team at this event.
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