Status of U.S. Shark Stocks in 2013

Helmut Nickel, Shark Year Magazine,
02. May 2014

The latest Annual Report on the Status of U.S. Fisheries has just been released. A PDF-file of the Status of Stocks 2013 Report can be downloaded here.

The three tables below provide an overview of the status of 5 shark stock complexes and 24 shark stocks which have been assessed individually by NOAA for the year 2013. The complete Status Determination Tables ( with all 478 stocks and stock complexes managed in federal fishery management plans ) can be viewed here.

Table 1. Overfished Shark Stocks:

A total of 40 fish stocks are regarded as ‘overfished’ in the 2013 Annual Report on the Status of U.S. Fisheries.
A stock that is overfished has a biomass level depleted to a degree that the stock’s capacity to produce the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) is jeopardized.

The overfished-list contains the following five shark stocks. Additionally, three of these five stocks have been determined to be undergoing overfishing. A stock that is subject to overfishing has a fishing mortality rate higher than the rate that produces maximum sustainable yield (MSY).

 

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Table 2. ‘Not Overfished’ Shark Stocks :

The following table contains the nine individual shark stocks and one stock complex that have been assessed as not overfished. This means that the overall spawning stock biomass is above the threshold. Overfishing is not occuring in 9 of the 10 stocks ( with one stock listed as ‘unknown’ ).

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Table 3. Unknown Status :

The status of the following 10 shark stocks and 4 shark stock complexes has been determined as ‘unknown’.