Sharks, rays face elevated risk of extinction

Sohaila Ahmed, Staff Reporter

Of all the marine creatures affected by overfishing and habitat destruction, sharks and rays are at the epicentre of the hitlist, stated Dr Julia Spaet from University of Cambridge, United Kingdom at the 21st Sharjah International Conservation Forum for Arabian Biodiversity, Sicfab. Organised by the Environment and Protected Areas Authority, Epaa, Sicfab, which convened on February 3rd, at Desert Park in Sharjah will run until February 6th.

There are approximately 500 species of sharks, of which 56 are found in the region, belonging to 20 families and seven orders.

Compared to other regions, the shark fauna in the region is quite undiverse, potentially resulting from the narrow entrances of some of the ocean basins, that is, the Red Sea and the Gulf, which might have prevented certain species from entering these water bodies.

“Given that all water bodies in the region are connected and sharks are generally capable of moving large distances one would assume that all shark species are also found in all water bodies. That’s however not the case, and there are quite a few species that are found in the Red Sea but not in the Gulf and vice versa, which likely results from the very different environmental conditions in these basins,” said Dr. Spaet.

It has been noted that Arabian Gulf and the Sea of Oman are home to 43 shark species and 29 ray species. Of those species, two out of five are classified as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.

Although most countries in this region do have laws for the protection of sharks, there are many issues regarding the shark fishery in general, but the biggest threat by far is fishing.

All other potential threats, like habitat degradation, pollution or tourism are really negligible in comparison.

While some shark species are targeted for their fins, most species are caught as ‘by-catch’ in huge quantities and then processed for onward sale either within the region or to international destinations.

A new study published in Marine Policy reveals that 97 per cent of the sharks and rays caught and brought to market domestically by fleets from the European, North African and Middle Eastern countries that surround these seas are not reported by species.