TY - JOUR
T1 - Overfishing and climate change elevate extinction risk of endemic sharks and rays in the southwest Indian Ocean hotspot
AU - Pollom, Riley A.
AU - Cheok, Jessica
AU - Pacoureau, Nathan
AU - Gledhill, Katie S.
AU - Kyne, Peter M.
AU - Ebert, David A.
AU - Jabado, Rima W.
AU - Herman, Katelyn B.
AU - Bennett, Rhett H.
AU - da Silva, Charlene
AU - Fernando, Stela
AU - Kuguru, Baraka
AU - Leslie, Robin W.
AU - McCord, Meaghen E.
AU - Samoilys, Melita
AU - Winker, Henning
AU - Fennessy, Sean T.
AU - Pollock, Caroline M.
AU - Rigby, Cassandra L.
AU - Dulvy, Nicholas K.
PY - 2024/9/5
Y1 - 2024/9/5
N2 - Here, we summarise the extinction risk of the sharks and rays endemic to coastal, shelf, and slope waters of the southwest Indian Ocean and adjacent waters (SWIO+, Namibia to Kenya, including SWIO islands). This region is a hotspot of endemic and evolutionarily distinct sharks and rays. Nearly one-fifth (n = 13 of 70, 18.6%) of endemic sharks and rays are threatened, of these: one is Critically Endangered, five are Endangered, and seven are Vulnerable. A further seven (10.0%) are Near Threatened, 33 (47.1%) are Least Concern, and 17 (24.3%) are Data Deficient. While the primary threat is overfishing, there are the first signs that climate change is contributing to elevated extinction risk through habitat reduction and inshore distributional shifts. By backcasting their status, few endemic species were threatened in 1980, but this changed soon after the emergence of targeted shark and ray fisheries. South Africa has the highest national conservation responsibility, followed by Mozambique and Madagascar. Yet, while fisheries management and enforcement have improved in South Africa over recent decades, substantial improvements are urgently needed elsewhere. To avoid extinction and ensure robust populations of the region’s endemic sharks and rays and maintain ecosystem functionality, there is an urgent need for the strict protection of Critically Endangered and Endangered species and sustainable management of Vulnerable, Near Threatened, and Least Concern species, underpinned by species-level data collection and reduction of incidental catch.
AB - Here, we summarise the extinction risk of the sharks and rays endemic to coastal, shelf, and slope waters of the southwest Indian Ocean and adjacent waters (SWIO+, Namibia to Kenya, including SWIO islands). This region is a hotspot of endemic and evolutionarily distinct sharks and rays. Nearly one-fifth (n = 13 of 70, 18.6%) of endemic sharks and rays are threatened, of these: one is Critically Endangered, five are Endangered, and seven are Vulnerable. A further seven (10.0%) are Near Threatened, 33 (47.1%) are Least Concern, and 17 (24.3%) are Data Deficient. While the primary threat is overfishing, there are the first signs that climate change is contributing to elevated extinction risk through habitat reduction and inshore distributional shifts. By backcasting their status, few endemic species were threatened in 1980, but this changed soon after the emergence of targeted shark and ray fisheries. South Africa has the highest national conservation responsibility, followed by Mozambique and Madagascar. Yet, while fisheries management and enforcement have improved in South Africa over recent decades, substantial improvements are urgently needed elsewhere. To avoid extinction and ensure robust populations of the region’s endemic sharks and rays and maintain ecosystem functionality, there is an urgent need for the strict protection of Critically Endangered and Endangered species and sustainable management of Vulnerable, Near Threatened, and Least Concern species, underpinned by species-level data collection and reduction of incidental catch.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85203275131&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0306813
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0306813
M3 - Article
C2 - 39236015
AN - SCOPUS:85203275131
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 19
SP - 1
EP - 25
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
IS - 9
M1 - e0306813
ER -