A new IUCN report warns that urgent action is needed to preserve populations of cartilaginous fish, like sharks and rays, in the Mediterranean region.
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The Mediterranean is a "key hotspot of extinction risk" according to a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The alarming assessment refers to a new survey of shark, ray and chimera populations in the Mediterranen region. And the description seems fitting, as more than half of sharks and rays in the Mediterranean Sea are at risk of extinction.
The IUCN monitors 73 species of sharks, rays and chimeras native to the Mediterranean, and the new report updates the organization's findings from 10 years ago. It concluded that at least 50 percent of rays (16 of 32 species) and 56 percent of sharks (23 of 41 species) face an elevated risk of extinction. Even worse, 20 species in total (12 sharks and 8 rays) are critically endangered.
"There were no genuine improvements in status for the 73, whereas the status of 11 species worsened by at least one Red List Category," the study's authors wrote on the development over the past 10 years. Also, during the past 50 years, 13 species have become extinct locally.
The situation is particularly dire in the northwestern part of the Mediterranean - along the coasts of Italy, France and Spain, and to a lesser degree in the Adriatic Sea and along the coast of northwest Africa.
"The principal driver of decline and local extinction is overfishing," the report states, adding that sharks are also often caught as valuable bycatch and kept. Longline fishing, intended to catch tuna and swordfish, often hooks sharks as well.
"Governments need to support catch monitoring [...], regulate gears and establish fishing quotas, and protected areas at the domestic level," said Nicholas Dulvy, co-chair of the IUCN shark specialist group and a researcher at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, in a statement.
"Consumers, on the other hand, need to be aware of the risk of what buying these products entails."
For the love of sharks
Image: CC BY 4.0/Albert kok
Sharks, sharks everywhere
Blame it on Jaws or blame it on the fact that sharks do have rather a lot of sharp teeth, fact is, many humans have a fear of sharks as deep as the waters in which they swim. Any expert will tell you, we kill by far more of these great fish a year than they do us. So should we really be scared?
Image: Pterantula (Terry Goss) via Wikimedia Commons
The reef shark
There are five species of reef shark, of which this is one. Feasting on crustaceans and fish alike, they are the top predator in the fragile ecosystem from which they take their name. They are no strangers to divers either, and have been known to attack when they feel threatened.
Image: CC BY 4.0/Albert kok
All shapes and sizes
There are more than 250 recorded species of shark in the waters around our planet. They range in size and ferocity. The sand tiger shark weighs up to 159 kilos and can reach a length of 3.2 meters. They are big eaters, have a mouth full of frightening looking teeth, but are generally regarded as being docile and unlikely to attack humans unless provoked to do so.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S.Sauer
Mass slaughter
Though it is impossible to know exactly how many sharks are killed annually for their fins, some estimates put the number around 100 million. Finning, as the practice is known, entails the removal of the fin while the shark is alive. The animals are then cast back into the sea where if not dead already, they succumb to a painful end. The fins are used to make soup, which costs up to $100 a bowl.
Image: Gerhard Wegner/Sharkproject
Growing old gracefully
Recent research revealed that Greenland sharks can live to the extraordinarily ripe old age of 400. These predators have a healthy appetite, but have never been known to go for humans. They like cold waters, through which they move slowly. And that is not the only thing they do at a leisurly pace - they don't even reach sexual maturity until they are around 150.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Oceans Image
Just because it's big, doesn't mean...
...it will hurt you. At 18 meters, whale sharks are the longest species in the family, and indeed the biggest fish in the sea. At that rate, dinner should be theirs for the picking, but their penchant is for plankton. Good news for all the other creatures in the sea. But whale sharks are at risk. Not only are they fished for their fins, oil and meat, but are often hit by eco-tourism boats.
Image: CC BY 2.0/Derek Keats
Lemon sharks
Said to be the best researched sharks, the lemon species is considered non-agressive. To date there have been no recorded incidents of a human fatality as a result of a lemon shark attack. They are social creatures that move in groups, where they rarely display aggressive behavior to each other.
