Directed conservation of the world's reef sharks and rays.
Jordan S GoetzeMichael R HeithausM Aaron MacNeilEuan S HarveyColin A SimpfendorferMichelle R HeupelMark G MeekanShaun K WilsonMark E BondConrad W SpeedLeanne M Currey-RandallRebecca FisherC Samantha ShermanJeremy J KiszkaMatthew J ReesVinay UdyawerKathryn I FlowersGina M ClementiJacob AsherOcéane BeaufortAnthony T F BernardMichael L BerumenStacy L BierwagenTracey BoslogoEdward J BrooksJ Jed BrownDayne BuddoCamila CáceresSara CasaretoVenkatesh CharlooJoshua Eli CinnerEric E G CluaJesse E M CochranNeil CookBrooke M D'AlbertoMartin de GraafMareike C Dornhege-LazaroffLanya FanovichNaomi F FarabaughDaniel FernandoCarlos Eduardo Leite FerreiraCandace Y A FieldsAnna L FlamCamilla FlorosVirginia FourqureanLaura García BarciaRicardo GarlaKirk GastrichLachlan GeorgeRory GrahamValerie HaganRoyale S HardenstineStephen M HeckPatricia HeithausAaron C HendersonHeidi HertlerRobert E HueterMohini JohnsonStacy D JupiterMuslimin KaimuddinDevanshi KasanaMegan KelleySteven Thomas KesselBenedict KiiluFabian KyneTim LangloisJaedon LaweElodie J I LédéeSteve LindfieldJade Q MaggsB Mabel Manjaji-MatsumotoAndrea MarshallPhilip MatichErin McCombsDianne McLeanLlewelyn MeggsStephen MooreSushmita MukherjiRyan MurrayStephen J NewmanOwen R O'SheaKennedy E OsukaYannis P PapastamatiouNishan PereraBradley J PetersonFabián Pina-AmargósAlessandro PonzoAndhika PrasetyoL M Sjamsul QuamarJessica R QuinlanChristelle F RazafindrakotoFernanda A RolimAlexei Ruiz-AbiernoHector RuizMelita A SamoilysEnric SalaWilliam R SampleMichelle Schärer-UmpierreSara N SchoenAudrey M SchlaffAdam N H SmithLauren SparksTwan StoffersAkshay TannaRubén TorresMichael J TraversJasmine Valentin-AlbaneseJoseph D WarrenAlexandra M WattsColin Kuo-Chang WenElizabeth R WhitmanAaron J WirsingEsteban Zarza-GonzâlezDemian D ChapmanPublished in: Nature ecology & evolution (2024)
Many shark populations are in decline around the world, with severe ecological and economic consequences. Fisheries management and marine protected areas (MPAs) have both been heralded as solutions. However, the effectiveness of MPAs alone is questionable, particularly for globally threatened sharks and rays ('elasmobranchs'), with little known about how fisheries management and MPAs interact to conserve these species. Here we use a dedicated global survey of coral reef elasmobranchs to assess 66 fully protected areas embedded within a range of fisheries management regimes across 36 countries. We show that conservation benefits were primarily for reef-associated sharks, which were twice as abundant in fully protected areas compared with areas open to fishing. Conservation benefits were greatest in large protected areas that incorporate distinct reefs. However, the same benefits were not evident for rays or wide-ranging sharks that are both economically and ecologically important while also threatened with extinction. We show that conservation benefits from fully protected areas are close to doubled when embedded within areas of effective fisheries management, highlighting the importance of a mixed management approach of both effective fisheries management and well-designed fully protected areas to conserve tropical elasmobranch assemblages globally.