IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group
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    • Conservation Strategies >
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News

Mapping ISRAs in the Central and South American Pacific -existing knowledge and data needs

8/5/2025

 
NEW PUBLICATION
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See the newest publication on the Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) project published in the journal, PLOS One.

García-Rodríguez E, Gonzalez-Pestana A, Charles R, Palacios MD, Notarbartolo di Sciara G, Alfaro-Shigueto J, et al. (2025). Mapping Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs) in the Central and South American Pacific: existing knowledge and data needs. PLoS One 20(4): e0322445. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0322445

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South American Atlantic and Inland Waters: A regional compendium of Important Shark and Ray Areas

6/5/2025

 
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​The eighth region targeted by the Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) project covered the South American Atlantic (Region 5). Stemming from the joint regional workshop for the South American Atlantic and Inland Waters (Regions 5 and 13) in Montevideo, Uruguay from 13-17 January, 2025, this resulted in the delineation of 81 ISRAs, 2 candidate ISRAs, and 25 Areas of Interest for this region.

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South American Inland Waters: A regional compendium of Important Shark and Ray Areas

29/4/2025

 
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​The seventh region targeted by the Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) project covered the South American Inland Waters (Region 13). Stemming from the joint regional workshop for the South American Atlantic and Inland Waters in Montevideo, Uruguay from 13-17 January, 2025, this resulted in the delineation of 21 ISRAs and 14 Areas of Interest.

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Turning the tide for sharks: Important Shark and Ray Areas

6/3/2025

 
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See here for the latest update about the Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) project in this First View publication in Oryx. This publication summarizes the progress of the ISRA project since launching and covers the goals until 2027.

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New Zealand and Pacific Islands: A regional compendium of Important Shark and Ray Areas

20/12/2024

 

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IUCN WCPA Technical Note 16: Approaches for identifying areas of particular importance for marine biodiversity

30/10/2024

 
TECHNICAL NOTE
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A technical brief on important marine areas has just been released at the 2024 United Nations Biodiversity Conference of the Parties (CoP 16) of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Cali, Colombia. ​

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Shortfalls in the protection of Important Shark and Ray Areas undermine shark conservation efforts in the Central and South American Pacific

30/10/2024

 
NEW PUBLICATION
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New update on the Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) project published in the journal, Marine Policy.

Mouton, T. L., Gonzalez-Pestana, A., Rohner, C. A., Charles, R., García-Rodríguez, E., Kyne, P. M., ... & Jabado, R. W. (2025). Shortfalls in the protection of ISRAs undermine shark conservation efforts in the Central and South American Pacific. Marine Policy, 171, 106448.

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Polar waters: A regional compendium of Important Shark and Ray Areas

31/8/2024

 
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The fifth region targeted by the Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) project covered the Polar Waters (Region 1). Stemming from the workshop in Tirana, Albania from 27-29 May, 2024, this resulted in the delineation of 34 ISRAs, four candidate ISRAs, and 11 Areas of Interest.

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Asia: A Regional Compendium of Important Shark and Ray Areas

8/5/2024

 
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The fourth region region targeted by the Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA)  project covered the Asian region. This regional expert workshop was held in Bali, Indoneisa from 22–26 January 2024. This compendium provides an overview of all areas delineated.

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All sawfish now Critically Endangered but sustained conservation efforts can lead to recovery

29/3/2024

 
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New update on sawfish species published in the journal, Oryx.

In November 2021, the IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group held a series of online workshops to reassess the Red List status of the five sawfish species (family Pristidae). This process concluded in December 2023 with the publication of the final assessment, for the Narrow Sawfish Anoxypristis cuspidata.

Source: Harry A.V., Carlson J.K., Espinoza M., Grant, M.I., Haque, A.B., Jabado, R.W. and Rigby, C.L. All sawfish now Critically Endangered but sustained conservation efforts can lead to recovery. Oryx. 2024;58(2):146-146. doi:10.1017/S0030605323001692

Western Indian Ocean: A Regional Compendium of Important Shark and Ray Areas

6/1/2024

 
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The third region region targeted by the Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA)  project covered the Western Indian Ocean. This regional expert workshop was held in in Durban, South Africa from 11–15 September 2023. This compendium provides an overview of all areas delineated.

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Mediterranean and Black Seas Region: A Regional Compendium of Important Shark and Ray Areas

1/9/2023

 
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Continuing the Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA)  project, the second regional expert workshop was held in Thessaloniki, Greece from 8–12 May, 2023. The region covered included the Mediterranean and Black Seas. This compendium provides an overview of all areas delineated.

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Central and South American Pacific: A Regional Compendium of Important Shark and Ray Areas

23/3/2023

 
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The first ever region region targeted by the Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) project covered the Central and South American Pacific (Region 12). This regional expert workshop was held in in Bogota, Colombia from 3-7 October 2022. This compendium provides an overview of all areas delineated.

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A New Hope

20/9/2022

 
A newly released peer-reviewed paper in Frontiers in Marine Science emphasises that establishing measures to address the global decline in Chondrichthyes is more urgent than ever.
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© Important Shark and Ray Areas
​The paper, “Putting sharks on the map: a global standard for improving shark area-based conservation,” outlines a set of standardized criteria for Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs) that can support management considerations to reverse the loss of sharks globally and integrate these into area-based planning.

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New Global Study Finds Unprecedented Shark and Ray Extinction Risk

6/9/2021

 
Experts classify one-third of chondrichthyan fish species as threatened, urge conservation action
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Guitarfishes and wedgefishes are among the most threatened rays, due to the high value of their large fins. This Whitespotted Wedgefish (Rhynchobatus djiddensis) reaches over 3 metres long and is classified as Critically Endangered by IUCN. Protea Banks, South Africa. Photo by Matthew D. Potenski | mdp.myportfolio.com
A new analysis published today in the journal Current Biology finds that one-third of the world’s chondrichthyan fishes – sharks, rays, and chimaeras – are now threatened with extinction according to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List criteria.
In this new global analysis, experts assessed 1,199 shark, ray, and chimaera species against International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List criteria and found 391 (32%) qualify as Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable. Species classified in these three IUCN categories are considered threatened with extinction. That statistic increases to more than one-third (37.5%) if Data Deficient species are assumed to be threatened in the same proportion as assessed species.

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New guides to bolster shark and ray research and species identification in Southeast Asia

29/4/2021

 
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The CITES Secretariat and the Secretariat of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) have jointly published two guides to facilitate the identification of shark and ray species common in the Southeast Asian region.
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The purpose of the guides is to provide an accessible tool to help fisheries officers, fisheries researchers, CITES authorities and other relevant stakeholders in identifying sharks and rays commonly found in the Southeast Asian region.

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Field Guide to Sharks, Rays, & Chimaeras of Europe and the Mediterranean

18/4/2021

 
NEW PUBLICATION
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Written by ​David Ebert and Marc Dando
The waters of the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea are home to an amazing variety of sharks, rays, and chimaeras. The newly published Field Guide to Sharks, Rays, & Chimaeras of Europe and the Mediterranean covers all 146 species found in the Mediterranean, the waters of the European Atlantic and Iceland, along all the Scandinavian coasts, in the Black Sea and as far south as the Canary Islands. ​
The region can lay claim to the 10th most diverse chondrichthyes fauna in the world; representing nearly 12% of all known species, including about 25 endemic European Atlantic and nine endemic Mediterranean Sea species.

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Curious about what shark species occur in South Africa?

17/4/2021

 

First SA Shark checklist – Published

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A first ever dedicated checklist of South Africa’s chondrichthyan fauna provides a current list of all sharks, rays, skates and ghost sharks that occur in South African waters, their distribution and current IUCN Red List status.

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Copyright © 2025 | IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group | All Rights Reserved
  • Home
  • About
    • Mission & Vision
    • Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
    • Sponsors
    • Communication >
      • Visual Identity and Brand Guide
    • Documents
    • Membership | TOR
    • FAQ
  • Members
    • Who We Are >
      • Our Team
      • Our Members
      • Our History
    • Where We Work >
      • North America
      • Central America and the Caribbean
      • South America
      • Northern Europe
      • Mediterranean
      • Africa
      • Indian Ocean
      • ​Asia
      • Oceania
    • What We Do >
      • Aquarium Working Group
      • Assess Working Group
      • Bycatch Working Group
      • Communication Working Group
      • Deepwater Chondrichthyans Working Group
      • Human Dimensions Working Group
      • Integrative Taxonomy Working Group
      • Marine Historical Ecology Working Group
  • Resources
    • Shark News >
      • Shark News | Submission Guidelines
    • Shark News Legacy
    • Important Shark and Ray Areas
    • Publications >
      • 2024 Global Status Report
      • Status Reports
      • Fisheries Management
      • Conservation Strategies
      • Migratory Species
      • SSG Statements
      • Identification Guide
      • Trade
      • Other
    • Scientific References
    • Conservation Strategies >
      • Conservation Strategies: Sawfish
      • Conservation Strategies: Devil and Manta Rays
      • Conservation Strategies: Angel Sharks
    • Policy Planning >
      • CITES >
        • CITES 17th CoP
      • The Convention on Migratory Species and Sharks
      • The Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Sharks (Sharks MOU)
      • The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and Sharks
      • RFMOs
      • IPOA-Sharks
    • Workshops >
      • IUCN SSC SSG Workshops
      • Red List News
    • Press
    • Links
    • Media Resources >
      • Angel Shark Images and Captions for Media Use
      • Wedgefish & Guitarfish Images for Media Use
      • Sawfish Images for Media Use
  • News
  • Contact
  • Donate