Shark and ray populations rebounding in Northwestern Atlantic: SFU study

Photo: Hannes Klostermann Better fisheries management and conservation is effective at turning the tide on the shark and ray declines, according to a study from Simon Fraser researchers. The fact sharks and rays are increasingly threatened by overfishing has made global headlines in recent years. Oceanic populations have plummeted by as much as 71 per cent in the last 50 years and one third of all sharks and rays are threatened with extinction. But there is hope, and proof that the declines can be reversed, according to a new study published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). Lead author Nathan Pacoureau, postdoctoral research fellow at SFU, and colleagues analyzed trends in fishing pressure, fisheries management, and population status for all wide-ranging coastal sharks and rays that occur in the western Atlantic Ocean. They found that populations in the northwest Atlantic recovered following implementation of a U.S. fishery management plan for sharks of the Atlantic Ocean in 1993. Declines have been halted in three species and six species of eleven are clearly rebuilding now.