Half a century of global decline in oceanic sharks and rays

Overfishing is the primary cause of marine defaunation, yet individual species declines and rising extinction risk are difficult to measure particularly of the largest predators found in the high seas1–3. We calculate two well-established indicators to track progress toward Aichi Biodiversity Targets and Sustainable Development Goals4,5, the Living Planet Index by aggregating 57 abundance time-series for 18 species and the Red List Index to track species extinction risk of all 31 oceanic sharks and rays. Since 1970, the global abundance of oceanic sharks and rays has declined by 71% due to an 18-fold increase in relative fishing pressure. Overfishing-induced declines in abundance have elevated global extinction risk to the point where three-quarters of this functionally important assemblage of iconic fishes are now threatened. Strict prohibitions and precautionary science-based catch limits are urgently needed to avert population collapse6,7, avoid disruption of ecological function, and promote species recovery.

PACOUREAU Nathan;  RIGBY Cassandra L.;  KYNE Peter M.;  SHERLEY Richard B.;  WINKER Henning;  CARLSON John K.;  FORDHAM Sonja V.;  BARRETO Rodrigo P.;  FERNANDO Daniel;  FRANCIS Malcolm P.;  JABADO Rima W.;  HERMAN Katelyn B.;  LIU Kwang-Ming;  MARSHALL Andrea D.;  POLLOM Riley;  ROMANOV Evgeny V.;  SIMPFENDORFER Colin A.;  YIN Jamie S.;  KINDSVATER Holly K.;  DULVY Nicholas; 

2021-02-23

NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP

JRC120490

0028-0836 (online),   

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03173-9,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC120490,   

10.1038/s41586-020-03173-9 (online),