Shark numbers in alarming worldwide decline as many species face extinction, study says Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
The predators of the seas are in trouble.
Shark populations in the world s oceans have declined by an alarming 71% since 1970, according to a new study published Wednesday in the British journal Nature.
“The last 50 years have been pretty devastating for global shark populations,” said Nathan Pacoureau, a biologist at Simon Fraser University in Canada and a co-author of the study. We document an alarming, ongoing, worldwide decline in oceanic shark populations across the world’s largest ecosystem over the past half-century, resulting in an unprecedented increase in the risk of extinction of these species, the authors write in the study.
Globally, the abundance of oceanic sharks and rays dropped more than 70% between 1970 and 2018, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
And 24 of the 31 species of sharks and rays are threatened with extinction, while three species oceanic whitetip sharks, scalloped hammerhead sharks and great hammerhead sharks are considered critically endangered.
Alarming decline in sharks.
Overfishing has wiped out over 70% of some shark and ray populations in the past 50 years, leaving a gaping, growing hole in ocean life: studyhttps://t.co/Nt4abhEhVgpic.twitter.com/diLp7fWqQT
“The last 50 years have been pretty devastating for global shark populations,” said Nathan Pacoureau, a biologist at Simon Fraser University in Canada and a co-author of the study.
Research shows oceanic shark populations have dropped 71% since 1970
Globally, the abundance of oceanic sharks and rays dropped more than 70 per cent between 1970 and 2018, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature. Of the 31 species of sharks and rays, 24 are threatened with extinction.
Social Sharing
The Associated Press ·
Posted: Jan 27, 2021 1:32 PM ET | Last Updated: January 27
According to NOAA Fisheries, oceanic whitetip sharks like the one pictured above were common and abundant, but are now rarely seen.(Terry Goss Photography USA/Marine Photobank/Associated Press)
When marine biologist Stuart Sandin talks about sharks, it sounds like he s describing Jedis of the ocean.
WASHINGTON When marine biologist Stuart Sandin talks about sharks, it sounds like he s describing Jedis of the ocean. They are terrific predators, fast swimmers and they have amazing senses they can detect any disturbance in the ocean from great distance, such as smells or tiny changes in water currents. Their ability to quickly sense anything outside the norm in their environment helps them find prey in the vastness of the open ocean. But it also makes them especially vulnerable in the face of increased international fishing pressure, as global fishing fleets have doubled since 1950. You drop a fishing line in the open ocean, and often it s sharks that are there first whether or not they re the primary target, said Sandin, who works at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
And 24 of the 31 species of sharks and rays are threatened with extinction, while three species oceanic whitetip sharks, scalloped hammerhead sharks and great hammerhead sharks are considered critically endangered.
“The last 50 years have been pretty devastating for global shark populations,” said Nathan Pacoureau, a biologist at Simon Fraser University in Canada and a co-author of the study.
Sometimes sharks are intentionally caught by fishing fleets, but more often they are reeled in incidentally as “ bycatch, in the course of fishing for other species such as tuna and swordfish.
Credit: AP
This undated photo provided by Dr. Greg Skomal in January 2021 shows a shortfin mako shark. (Greg Skomal via AP)