Date Time Unknown, unloved and in strife – Aussie battler sharks and rays fished to brink of extinction Shark and ray species unique to Australian waters are in danger of extinction from commercial fishing unless fishing practices and rules are improved, a new independent report commissioned by the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) and Humane Society International (HSI) has found. Half of Australia’s 322 species of shark and ray are found nowhere else in the world (which is known as ‘endemic’), and yet these true-blue Aussie battlers are in serious trouble. Species such as the Critically Endangered whitefin swellshark and the Vulnerable eastern angelshark are still declining[1].