Marine parks and fishery managment are both needed to save sharks and rays from extinction

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-05-20 19:00

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Marine parks, or marine protected areas, around the world have nearly twice as many sharks as areas open to fishing, according to Australian research, but it is only sharks living on coral reefs who benefit from this type of conservation effort. The research found that when fishing in the surrounding areas is also managed through catch limits and bans on gillnets or longlines, the conservation benefits for reef sharks are nearly doubled. The benefits from marine parks were not seen for rays or wide-ranging sharks also threatened with extinction, and a focus on fisheries management at the national or regional scale would benefit these species, say the authors. To avoid a global extinction crisis for sharks and rays, the authors say we need a mixture of large fully-protected areas embedded within larger areas of effective fisheries management.

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Journal/
conference: Nature Ecology & Evolution

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Curtin University, James Cook University, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania, The University of Western Australia, Deakin University, University of Wollongong, Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), University of Sydney, CSIRO, Government of Western Australia

Funder: J.S.G. was supported by a Niarchos Fellowship through the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). D.D.C. was supported by the Roe Foundation, and additional sampling for the Chapman lab was funded by the Moore Bahamas Foundation (Bahamas) and Earthwatch Institute (Belize). In the Dutch Caribbean, surveys on Saba, Saba Bank and St Eustatius were supported by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. Bonaire, Curacao and St Maarten were supported by the SAVE OUR SHARKS project, a collaboration between the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance and IMARES. Additional support for data collection in Solomon Islands was provided by grants to WCS from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (grant no. 13-105118-000-INP) and by the National Science Foundation (grant no. EF-1427453). Additional support for sampling in Malaysia was provided by Scuba Junkie SEAS. Additional support for sampling in Brazil was provided by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológicov(CNPq) through the scientific programmes LTER [PELD-ILOC grant 441327/2020-6 and PELD-HCES grant 441243/2016-9; the latter with additional funding from Fundação Estadual de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Espírito Santo (FAPES) and CNPq/PROTRINDADE (grant 405426/2012-7)]. Data collection in Brazil was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, CAPES finance code 001. We thank the Brazilian Navy and SECIRM for the fundamental logistic support; C. and D. McCann for assistance in Sabah, Malaysia; the authorities for granting the research permit in KKP-TWP Nusa Penida, Bali, Indonesia (No. 532/194/DPPK) and TWP Kapoposang, South Sulawesi, Indonesia (No. B.49.4/BKKPN/III/2016). Additional support for sampling in Indonesia was provided by Wasage Divers, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Operation Wallacea provided support to C.S.S. In Sri Lanka, we acknowledge the Department of Wildlife Conservation for facilitating this research project under permit number WL/3/2/23/17. Additional support for sampling in Taiwan was provided by NTSC (103- 2313-B-029-004), permitted by the Marine National Park. We thank the Sandals Foundation and the Alligator Head Foundation supporting the work conducted in Ocho Rios and East Portland, respectively. Surveys in Jardines de la Reina were supported by Blue Sanctuary-Avalon. Additional support for sampling in Qatar was provided by a University Grant from Qatar University. Additional support for sampling in Saudi Arabia was provided by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. We thank the Department of Natural Resources and Forestry of the Tobago House of Assembly for their endorsement and granting of the research project and the necessary research permit. In Puerto Rico, the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources facilitated the research permit 2018-IC-040, whereas NOAA/NMFS acknowledges the Florida International University for sampling. We thank the fishers of Tintipán Island (Colombia) for assistance with the project. Research in Madagascar was carried out under permits from the Ministry of Environment, Antananarivo and supported by IH.SM, WCS Madagascar. This research was also supported by ‘GlobalArchive: Harnessing fish and shark image data for powerful biodiversity reporting’ (https://doi.org/10.47486/DP761), which received investment from the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) (https://ardc.edu.au/), funded by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy. Logistical support for this project was provided by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), both of the Government of Western Australia. This is contribution no. 1681 from the Institute of Environment at Florida International University. Core funding for Global FinPrint was provided by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation 30 (to D.D.C., M. R. Heithaus).

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