Login / Signup

Global status and conservation potential of reef sharks.

M Aaron MacNeilDemian D ChapmanMichelle HeupelColin A SimpfendorferMichael HeithausMark G MeekanEuan HarveyJordan GoetzeJeremy KiszkaMark E BondLeanne M Currey-RandallConrad W SpeedC Samantha ShermanMatthew J ReesVinay UdyawerKathryn I FlowersGina ClementiJasmine Valentin-AlbaneseTaylor GorhamM Shiham AdamKhadeeja AliFabián Pina-AmargósJorge A Angulo-ValdésJacob AsherLaura García BarciaOcéane BeaufortCecilie BenjaminAnthony T F BernardMichael L BerumenStacy L BierwagenErika BonnemaRosalind M K BownDarcy BradleyEdd BrooksJ Jed BrownDayne BuddoPatrick J BurkeCamila CáceresDiego CardeñosaJeffrey C CarrierJennifer E CaselleVenkatesh CharlooThomas ClaverieEric E G CluaJesse E M CochranNeil CookJessica CrampBrooke D'AlbertoMartin de GraafMareike DornhegeAndy EstepLanya FanovichNaomi F FarabaughDaniel FernandoAnna L FlamCamilla FlorosVirginia FourqureanRicardo GarlaKirk GastrichLachlan GeorgeRory GrahamTristan GuttridgeRoyale S HardenstineStephen M HeckAaron C HendersonHeidi HertlerRobert HueterMohini JohnsonStacy D JupiterDevanshi KasanaSteven Thomas KesselBenedict KiiluTaratu KirataBaraka KuguruFabian KyneTim LangloisElodie J I LédéeSteve LindfieldAndrea Luna-AcostaJade Q MaggsB Mabel Manjaji-MatsumotoAndrea MarshallPhilip MatichErin McCombsDianne McLeanLlewelyn MeggsStephen MooreSushmita MukherjiRyan MurrayMuslimin KaimuddinStephen J NewmanJosep NoguésClay ObotaOwen O'SheaKennedy OsukaYannis P PapastamatiouNishan PereraBradley PetersonAlessandro PonzoAndhika PrasetyoL M Sjamsul QuamarJessica QuinlanAlexei Ruiz-AbiernoEnric SalaMelita SamoilysMichelle T Schärer-UmpierreAudrey SchlaffNikola SimpsonAdam N H SmithLauren SparksAkshay TannaRubén TorresMichael J TraversMaurits P M van Zinnicq BergmannLaurent VigliolaJuney WardAlexandra M WattsColin Kuo-Chang WenElizabeth R WhitmanAaron J WirsingAljoscha WothkeEsteban Zarza-GonzâlezJoshua Eli Cinner
Published in: Nature (2020)
Decades of overexploitation have devastated shark populations, leaving considerable doubt as to their ecological status1,2. Yet much of what is known about sharks has been inferred from catch records in industrial fisheries, whereas far less information is available about sharks that live in coastal habitats3. Here we address this knowledge gap using data from more than 15,000 standardized baited remote underwater video stations that were deployed on 371 reefs in 58 nations to estimate the conservation status of reef sharks globally. Our results reveal the profound impact that fishing has had on reef shark populations: we observed no sharks on almost 20% of the surveyed reefs. Reef sharks were almost completely absent from reefs in several nations, and shark depletion was strongly related to socio-economic conditions such as the size and proximity of the nearest market, poor governance and the density of the human population. However, opportunities for the conservation of reef sharks remain: shark sanctuaries, closed areas, catch limits and an absence of gillnets and longlines were associated with a substantially higher relative abundance of reef sharks. These results reveal several policy pathways for the restoration and management of reef shark populations, from direct top-down management of fishing to indirect improvement of governance conditions. Reef shark populations will only have a high chance of recovery by engaging key socio-economic aspects of tropical fisheries.
Keyphrases