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Overfishing drives over one-third of all sharks and rays toward a global extinction crisis
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2021
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Source: Current Biology, 31
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Journal Title:Current Biology
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Description:The scale and drivers of marine biodiversity loss are being revealed by the International Union for Conserva-tion of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessment process. We present the first global reassessment of 1,199 speciesin Class Chondrichthyes—sharks, rays, and chimeras. The first global assessment (in 2014) concluded thatone-quarter (24%) of species were threatened. Now, 391 (32.6%) species are threatened with extinction.When this percentage of threat is applied to Data Deficient species, more than one-third (37.5%) of chon-drichthyans are estimated to be threatened, with much of this change resulting from new information. Threespecies are Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct), representing possibly the first global marine fish extinc-tions due to overfishing. Consequently, the chondrichthyan extinction rate is potentially 25 extinctions permillion species years, comparable to that of terrestrial vertebrates. Overfishing is the universal threataffecting all 391 threatened species and is the sole threat for 67.3% of species and interacts with three otherthreats for the remaining third: loss and degradation of habitat (31.2% of threatened species), climate change(10.2%), and pollution (6.9%). Species are disproportionately threatened in tropical and subtropical coastalwaters. Science-based limits on fishing, effective marine protected areas, and approaches that reduce oreliminate fishing mortality are urgently needed to minimize mortality of threatened species and ensure sus-tainable catch and trade of others. Immediate action is essential to prevent further extinctions and protect thepotential for food security and ecosystem functions provided by this iconic lineage of predators.
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Source:Current Biology, 31
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Rights Information:CC BY
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Compliance:Submitted
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