January 18, 2023 — More than half of known species of coral reef sharks and rays are threatened with extinction, according to new research that underscores the urgent need for improved regional fisheries and marine protected areas management.
The study, published Jan. 17 in the journal Nature Communications, identified 79 of the world’s 134 coral reef-associated rays and sharks — also known as chondrichthyans — as being in one of the threatened categories on the IUCN Red List. Overfishing appears to be the biggest cause for the population decline, followed by climate change, habitat loss and degradation, residential and commercial development, and pollution, the study authors said.
“There are few policies that have been put in place to manage reef sharks and rays,” lead author Samantha Sherman, a postdoctoral research fellow at Simon Fraser University in Canada, told Mongabay in an email interview.
“These species are difficult to manage as they occur mainly in countries with very high coastal populations that rely on resources from the ocean for food and earning money to support their families,” she added. “These countries also tend to have large numbers of small boats and small markets spread throughout the coast, which makes implementation of any policies difficult.”