Abstract
The deep ocean is the last natural biodiversity refuge from the reach of human activities. Deepwater sharks and rays are among the most sensitive marine vertebrates to overexploitation. One-third of threatened deepwater sharks are targeted, and half the species targeted for the international liver-oil trade are threatened with extinction. Steep population declines cannot be easily reversed owing to long generation lengths, low recovery potentials, and the near absence of management. Depth and spatial limits to fishing activity could improve conservation when implemented alongside catch regulations, bycatch mitigation, and international trade regulation. Deepwater sharks and rays require immediate trade and fishing regulations to prevent irreversible defaunation and promote recovery of this threatened megafauna group.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1135-1141 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Science (New York, N.Y.) |
Volume | 383 |
Issue number | 6687 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 8 Mar 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank all members of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group and invited national, regional, and international experts who attended Shark Specialist Group Red List workshops, as well as all the experts who contributed data and their expertise in person or by correspondence. The scientific results and conclusions, as well as any views or opinions expressed herein, are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of institutions or data providers. We thank E. Digel for the collation of life history data for the rmax estimation, as well as J. Lawson, J. Bigman, Z. Crysler, A. Hood, G. Ralph, and H. Yan for their contributions to workshop organization where IUCN Red List assessments for deepwater species were undertaken. The sawfish vector was created by C. Camilo Julián-Caballero (with no additional modifications; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Funding: This project was funded by the Shark Conservation Fund, a philanthropic collaborative that pools expertise and resources to meet the threats facing the world’s sharks and rays. The Shark Conservation Fund is a project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. This work was funded by the Shark Conservation Fund as part of the Global Shark Trends Project to N.K.D. and C.A.S. N.K.D. was supported by Natural Science and Engineering Research Council Discovery and Accelerator Awards and the Canada Research Chairs Program. D.A.E. was supported by Save Our Seas Foundation and the South African Shark and Ray Protection Project, implemented by WILDTRUST, funded by the Shark Conservation Fund. This work was also funded by Natural Science and Engineering Research Council Discovery Award 5013566 (N.K.D.), Natural Science and Engineering Research Council Discovery Accelerator Award 462291 (N.K.D.), and Canada Research Chairs Program 1228186 (N.K.D.).
Funding Information:
We thank all members of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group and invited national, regional, and international experts who attended Shark Specialist Group Red List workshops, as well as all the experts who contributed data and their expertise in person or by correspondence. The scientific results and conclusions, as well as any views or opinions expressed herein, are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of institutions or data providers. We thank E. Digel for the collation of life history data for the rmax estimation, as well as J. Lawson, J. Bigman, Z. Crysler, A. Hood, G. Ralph, and H. Yan for their contributions to workshop organization where IUCN Red List assessments for deepwater species were undertaken. The sawfish vector was created by C. Camilo Julián-Caballero (with no additional modifications; https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/3.0/). Funding: This project was funded by the Shark Conservation Fund, a philanthropic collaborative that pools expertise and resources to meet the threats facing the world’s sharks and rays. The Shark Conservation Fund is a project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. This work was funded by the Shark Conservation Fund as part of the Global Shark Trends Project to N.K.D. and C.A.S. N.K.D. was supported by Natural Science and Engineering Research Council Discovery and Accelerator Awards and the Canada Research Chairs Program. D.A.E. was supported by Save Our Seas Foundation and the South African Shark and Ray Protection Project, implemented by WILDTRUST, funded by the Shark Conservation Fund. This work was also funded by Natural Science and Engineering Research Council Discovery Award 5013566 (N.K.D.), Natural Science and Engineering Research Council Discovery Accelerator Award 462291 (N.K.D.), and Canada Research Chairs Program 1228186 (N.K.D.). Author contributions: Conceptualization: B.F., N.P., C.L.R., J.H.M., C.S.S., W.J.V., C.A.S., N.K.D.; Methodology: N.P., J.H.M., N.F.-B.; Validation: B.F., N.P., C.L.R., J.H.M., N.F.-B., C.S.S., W.J.V., C.A.S., N.K.D.; Formal analysis: B.F., N.P., C.L.R., J.H.M., N.F.-B., R.W.J., C.A.S., N.K.D.; Resources: B.F., N.P., C.L.R., R.W.J., P.C., P.A.M.-F., A.F.N., B.K., C.F.C., J.-M.C., R.K.D., D., D.A.E., D.F., S.M.C.F., M.P.F., C.H., H.I., D.W.K., R.W.L., F.N., A.M.O., G.R., G.J.S., I.V.V., T.I.W.; Data curation: B.F., N.P., C.L.R., P.M.K., R.A.P., R.H.L.W., K.B.H., C.A.S., N.K.D.; Writing – original draft: B.F., N.P., C.L.R., J.H.M., N.F.-B., C.S.S., W.J.V., C.A.S., N.K.D.; Writing – review and editing: B.F., N.P., C.L.R., J.H.M., N.F.-B., C.S.S., W.J.V., R.W.J., P.C., P.A.M.-F., A.F.N., P.M.K., R.A.P., R.H.L.W., D.H.D., K.B.H., B.K., C.F.C., J.-M.C., R.K.D., D., D.A.E., D.F., S.M.C.F., M.P.F., C.H., H.I., D.W.K., R.W.L., F.N., A.M.O., G.R., G.J.S., I.V.V., T.I.W., C.A.S., N.K.D.; Visualization: B.F., N.P., C.L.R., J.H.M., N.F.-B., C.S.S., W.J.V., D.H.D., C.A.S., N.K.D.; Supervision: B.F., C.L.R., C.A.S., N.K.D.; Project administration: B.F., C.L.R., R.W.J., P.C., P.A.M.-F., A.F.N., P.M.K., C.A.S., N.K.D.; Funding acquisition: R.W.J., P.C., P.A.M.-F., A.F.N., C.A.S., N.K.D. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Data and materials availability: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species assessments are publicly available on the IUCN Red List (https://www.iucnredlist.org/), and a permanent summary is documented here (41). Time-series and trait data are publicly available on https://www.sharkipedia.org/. License information: Copyright © 2024 the authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original US government works. https://www.science.org/ about/science-licenses-journal-article-reuse
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Copyright © 2024 the authors, some rights reserved;