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

​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.

The seventh Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) regional expert workshop was held in hybrid mode (in person and online) in Montevideo, Uruguay from 13–17 January 2025. The goal was to identify and delineate three-dimensional and discrete portions of habitat that are critical to the survival of sharks, rays, and chimaeras (hereafter ‘sharks’), and that have the potential to be managed for conservation. The region covered was the South American Inland Waters. This scientific collaboration amongst regional and global experts resulted in the identification of 21 Important Shark and Ray Areas and 14 Areas of Interest. Identified ISRAs range in size from small areas of 0.4 km2 at depths of 0–4 m (Agualasal-Catatumbo in Colombia) to large areas of 19,495 km2 (Amazon River Mouth in Brazil) from 0–50 m.

Cite as:
Jabado RW, Gonzalez-Pestana A, García-Rodríguez E, Batlle-Morera A, Armstrong AO, Rohner CA, Bettcher Brito V, Charles R, Palacios MD. 2025. South American Inland Waters: A regional compendium of Important Shark and Ray Areas. Dubai: IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group. https://doi.org/10.59216/ssg.isra.2025.r13

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