Extinction risk and conservation of the world’s sharks and rays

paper3Published on 21. January 2014

Extinction risk and conservation of the world’s sharks and rays

Dulvy et al.

ABSTRACT:

The rapid expansion of human activities threatens ocean-wide biodiversity. Numerous marine animal populations have declined, yet it remains unclear whether these trends are symptomatic of a chronic accumulation of global marine extinction risk. We present the first systematic analysis of threat for a globally distributed lineage of 1,041 chondrichthyan fishes—sharks, rays, and chimaeras. We estimate that one-quarter are threatened according to IUCN Red List criteria due to overfishing (targeted and incidental). Large-bodied, shallow-water species are at greatest risk and five out of the seven most threatened families are rays. Overall chondrichthyan extinction risk is substantially higher than for most other vertebrates, and only one-third of species are considered safe. Population depletion has occurred throughout the world’s ice-free waters, but is particularly prevalent in the Indo-Pacific Biodiversity Triangle and Mediterranean Sea. Improved management of fisheries and trade is urgently needed to avoid extinctions and promote population recovery.

eLife 2014;3:e00590

SOURCE ( OPEN ACCESS )

 

3 Comments

  1. Wow powerful article to be reviewed. I hope those reading will watch my video to see how beautiful these creatures can be. http://youtu.be/jpvltm_n1i4 If you think my video is good please like it on YouTube. As it is about spreading the nature of creatures that can’t do it for themselves. So we need to step in as others are cutting them up.

  2. Wow powerful article to be reviewed. I hope those reading will watch my video to see how beautiful these creatures can be. If you think my video is good please like it on YouTube. As it is about spreading the nature of creatures that can’t do it for themselves. So we need to step in as others are cutting them up.

  3. Wow powerful article to be reviewed. I hope those reading will watch my video to see how beautiful these creatures can be. If you think my video is good please like it on YouTube. As it is about spreading the nature of creatures that can’t do it for themselves. So we need to step in as others are cutting them up.

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