New global strategy to protect sharks and rays released

Working together, several of the most influential conservation organisations have published a new global strategy to conserve sharks and rays. The report, published in January 2016, is a partnership of IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) Shark Specialist Group (SSG), Shark Advocates International, The Shark Trust, TRAFFIC, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and is the product of an intensive 18 month planning process.

The primary goal of the global strategy is to halt the decline of shark and ray populations globally and to improve the conservation status of the worlds shark and ray species. This main goal will be driven by three further goals which are to have been achieved by 2025:

"2025 Sustainable Fisheries Goal: Fisheries driven overexploitation and waste of sharks and rays are substantially reduced through increased adoption and implementation of sound, science-based fisheries management measures in at least 40 priority countries and in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ)"

"2025 Responsible Trade Goal: Effective trade controls are in place to ensure international trade in sharks and rays, and the products derived from them, is legal, sustainable and traceable."

"2025 Responsible Consumption Goal: The demand for (largely unsustainable) shark and ray meat, fins, squalene, manta and devil ray gill plates, and freshwater stingrays is significantly reduced in the most important global markets, while markets increasingly demand that any shark and ray products are sustainably produced and traceable."

This global management strategy comes at a critical time for the worlds sharks and rays. Not only are populations being exponentially reduced by the practise of shark finning, but unsustainable fishing practices mean that shark populations are being depleted at a faster rate than they can restock. in addition to this a general paucity of data on global shark populations and fisheries means many species are hard to assess and thus protect. Whilst 181 of the 1,038 known shark and ray species are listed in one of the three threatened categories in the IUCN Red List, almost half of the total number are listed as Data Deficient, meaning that we do not yet have enough information on the particular species in order to make an assessment of its conservation status.

Urgent attention will be given to the most threatened species first which includes the sawfishes, angel sharks, guitarfishes and wedgefishes; these families all contain species which have been classified as Critically Endangered or Endangered by the IUCN Red List.

Implementation of this global strategy will require extensive engagement with the public and governments in the primary target countries as well as continued research to bridge the gaps in current data. However, ambitious as this strategy is it is entirely necessary if shark and ray populations are to be protected; more heartening perhaps is the commitment that these large conservation organisation have promised towards protecting the worlds sharks and rays by releasing this strategy.

Bräutigam, A., Callow, M., Campbell, I.R., Camhi, M.D., Cornish, A.S., Dulvy, N.K., Fordham, S.V., Fowler, S.L., Hood, A.R., McClennen, C., Reuter, E.L., Sant, G., Simpfendorfer, C.A. and Welch, D.J. (2015). Global Priorities for Conserving Sharks and Rays: A 2015–2025 Strategy.