The conservation status of pelagic sharks and rays: report of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group Pelagic Shark Red List Workshop, Tubney House, University of Oxford, UK, 19-23 February 2007 | Bycatch Management Information System (BMIS)

Citation

Camhi MD, Valenti SV, Fordham SV, et al (2009) The conservation status of pelagic sharks and rays: report of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group Pelagic Shark Red List Workshop, Tubney House, University of Oxford, UK, 19-23 February 2007, 1st edn. IUCN Species Survival Commission’s Shark Specialist Group, Newbury, UK

Abstract

Sharks and their relatives, including skates, rays and chimaeras, collectively referred to as chondrichthyan fishes, form a relatively small (approximately 1,115 described species) and evolutionarily conservative group that has functioned successfully in diverse ecosystems for over 400 million years. Despite their evolutionary success, many species are increasingly threatened with extinction as a result of their low reproductive rates in the face of human activities, primarily overfishing. Generally, chondrichthyans are characterised by slow growth, late maturity, and low fecundity. Because of these characteristics, sharks and their relatives have very low rates of population increase and limited potential to recover from overfishing (direct or indirect) and other threats, such as pollution and habitat destruction (Compagno 2005; Musick 2005).