Assessing fish vulnerability: IUCN Vs. FishBase

Two recent pieces of correspondence (Swing, 2013; Collette et al., 2013) have highlighted the importance of IUCN criteria to drive fisheries towards sustainability. Long story short, Swing (2013) erroneously claims that the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species included just a few fish species, while Collette et al. (2013) pointed out that the number of species listed by the IUCN is actually much higher. Although the completeness of the list is obviously a key point, the criteria used to estimate vulnerability and thus identify those species that qualify for listing, are perhaps more important aspects to consider.Since the two measures provide different, complementary information, they should be both used in studies dealing with fish conservation. However, as emphasized above, this is not always feasible and may complicate interpretation of results. In studies dealing with individual species and focusing on practical issues, such as the establishment of protected areas, researchers should probably pay more attention to the estimates provided by IUCN.

STRONA Giovanni; 

2014-04-15

WILEY-BLACKWELL

JRC87968

1052-7613,   

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aqc.2439/abstract,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC87968,   

10.1002/aqc.2439,