Oceanic sharks and rays have declined by over 70%
28 Jan 202128 January 2021
Last updated at 06:58
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The number of oceanic sharks and rays worldwide has fallen by 71% since 1970, according to a report by a team of scientists from around the world.
Their study finds that more than three-quarters of these oceanic species are now threatened with extinction and over the past 50 years fishing pressure has doubled and shark and ray catches have tripled.
The team assessed the risk of extinction for all 31 species of ocean shark and rays. Of the 31 oceanic species, 24 are now threatened with extinction and three shark species (the oceanic whitetip shark, and the scalloped and great hammerhead sharks) have declined so sharply that they are now classified as critically endangered.
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On the high seas, far from any continent, sharks and rays were once abundant. Shortfin makos, the fastest sharks on the planet, chased after their prey at speeds of over 20 miles an hour. Scalloped hammerheads plied the waters, scanning the ocean expanse for food with their wide-set eyes and other specialized sensory organs.
These animals traveled widely across open waters so vast and inaccessible that many fishermen, and even some biologists, found it hard to believe that overfishing would ever endanger them.
“A decade ago,” recalls Nicholas Dulvy, co-chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Shark Specialist Group, “we would have extremely heated debates about listing an oceanic shark as threatened.”