One quarter of the world’s cartilaginous fish, namely sharks and rays, face extinction within the next few decades, according to the first study to systematically and globally assess their fate. The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN’s) Shark Specialist Group (SSG), co-chaired by Nick Dulvy, a Simon Fraser University (SFU) Canada Research Chair in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation in British Columbia, conducted the study. It was published in eLife journal today. Previous studies have documented local overfishing of some populations of sharks and rays. But this is the first one to survey their status through out coastal seas and oceans. It reveals that one-quarter (249) of 1,041 known shark, ray and chimaera species globally fall under three threatened categories on the IUCN Red List. Read more here.… More:
The post One Quarter of the World’s Cartilaginous Fish, Namely Sharks and Rays, Face Imminent Extinction appeared first on reefs.com.