Ghost fish: after 420 million years in the deeps, modern gillnets from shark fin trade drag coelacanths into the light
by Tony Carnie on 12 May 2021
Undersea canyons off Madagascar may turn out to be the Indian Ocean epicentre for coelacanths, the remarkable “fossil fish” which re-surfaced from apparent extinction in 1938.
Coelacanths have turned up with unexpected frequency in gill-nets set in deep waters to catch sharks for new, commercial markets.
A worrying trend in recent coelacanth catches in Madagascar is the high proportion of pregnant females, which are thought to produce just 140 live babies during their entire lifecycle.
Marine scientists are calling for reinforcement of conservation measures to protect this population from the pressure of incidental gill-net captures driven by the shark fin trade.
Madagascar
Sofala
Mozambique
Mtwara
Tanzania
Toliara
Comoros
China
Onilahy
Fianarantsoa
South-africa
Indonesia