Prioritizing Shark, Ray, and Chimaera Conservation in Rapidly Changing Polar Waters

NEW PUBLICATION ALERT

Our new study brings together biodiversity, Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs), fishing activity, marine protected areas, and sea-ice change to examine conservation priorities for sharks, rays, and chimaeras across the Arctic and Antarctic.

Some key findings:

• 86 chondrichthyan species occur in Polar Waters, with 32.6% threatened with extinction and more than 70% associated with deepwater habitats.
• We identified 35 ISRAs — 27 in the Arctic and 8 in the Antarctic — covering just ~0.75% of Polar Waters.
  
• These ISRAs were identified for only 15 species (17.4% of regional chondrichthyan diversity), highlighting substantial gaps in ecological and life-history information.
  
• The spatial footprint of fishing expanded across both Polar regions, including where fishing intensity remained stable or declined.
  
• Protection of ISRAs is highly uneven: 8.5% overlap with MPAs in the Arctic compared with 43.8% in the Antarctic, while overlap with no-take areas remains much lower.
  
• At present, overlap between areas experiencing sea-ice loss and fishing expansion is minimal, however, continued climate-driven change could alter where species and fisheries occur.

Together, these results reveal important mismatches between areas important for sharks, rays, and chimaeras, fishing exposure, and existing protection.
ISRAs provide a spatial tool that can help inform fisheries management, area-based conservation, monitoring, and future planning as Polar ecosystems continue to change.

Read the paper here.