IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group
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Press Room

A third of sharks, rays and chimaeras are threatened with extinction, as new reportnarrows in on solutions

2/12/2024

 
PRESS RELEASE | December 02, 2024
Regional press releases available for: International, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and South America
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The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has released a report, Global Status of Sharks, Rays and Chimaeras, that highlights new knowledge compiled by 353 experts from 115 countries and stresses the urgent need to address overfishing and bycatch in all countries.

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Important Shark and Ray Areas delineated in the New Zealand and Pacific Islands region

25/9/2024

 
"Protecting Sharks and Rays in Pacific Islands waters"

PRESS RELEASE | September 25, 2024
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​A recent assessment using the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species indicated that more than one-third of sharks, rays, and chimaeras are threatened with extinction.  

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122 Important Shark and Ray Areas identified in Asia

8/5/2024

 
PRESS RELEASE | May 08, 2024
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May 8, 2024. The Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) project has released a compendium of Important Shark and Ray Areas identified the waters of Asia. Areas delineated range in size from 0.9 km2 to 420,817.93 km2, encompassing shallow coastal waters to seas as deep as 1,928 m. They are important for a wide range of threatened and non-threatened species including the Widenose Guitarfish Glaucostegus obtusus, the Giant Freshwater Whipray Urogymnus polylepis, the Megamouth Shark Megachasma pelagios.

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Seychelles’ Aldabra Atoll officially designated as Important Shark and Ray Area

14/4/2024

 
PRESS RELEASE |  April 14, 2024
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Aldabra Atoll has officially been designated as an Important Shark and Ray Area (ISRA) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission shark specialist group.

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New Global Study Finds rising Deepwater Shark and Ray Extinction Risk

7/3/2024

 
Experts show deepwater sharks and rays are amongst the most sensitive marine vertebrates to overexploitation driven by international trade in meat and oil, urge conservation action

PRESS RELEASE | March 7, 2024
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«A new analysis published today in the journal Science finds that one-in-seven deepwater sharks and rays are threatened with extinction according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species criteria. A team of experts from around the world note that the biggest threat to this group of deepwater megafauna is overfishing, specifically being captured incidentally as bycatch of fisheries targeting commercially important species. ​»

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Convention on Migratory Species Acts to Protect Sharks and Rays

24/2/2024

 
PRESS RELEASE | February 24, 2024
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Photo by Gregoire Jeanneau | Unsplash
«​Significant progress was made towards conserving sharks and rays at the recently concluded 14th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). A wide range of issues related to sharks and rays were discussed, including ecological connectivity, bycatch, and deep sea mineral exploitation activities. Major conservation success stories include listing several new species of sharks and rays on the CMS Appendices, adopting a Single Species Action Plan for Angelshark, encouraging the use of Important Shark and Ray Areas in marine spatial planning, supporting Concerted Actions for priority species, and taking action to ensure effective implementation of CMS requirements for the threatened Oceanic Whitetip Shark.»

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New plan to save one of the world’s most threatened rays from extinction: the Maugean Skate will be extinct in a decade unless we act now

10/10/2023

 
PRESS RELEASE |  October 10, 2023
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The Maugean Skate, one of the world’s most threatened fish, has less than a decade before extinction unless authorities act soon. ​

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65 Important Shark and Ray Areas identified in the Mediterranean and Black Seas

5/9/2023

 
PRESS RELEASE | September 05, 2023
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The IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group (SSG) has released a compendium of Important Shark and Ray Area from the Mediterranean and Black Seas (view document here). These areas range in size from just 0.09 square kilometers to 219,000 square kilometers, encompassing shallow coastal waters to habitats more than 2,000 meters deep. They are important for species including the Critically Endangered Blackchin Guitarfish (Glaucostegus cemiculus) and the Endangered Rough Skate (Raja radula), as well as commonly fished species like the Common Smoothhound (Mustelus mustelus). These habitats are used by these species as mating or aggregation sites, nursery areas, feeding locations, or migratory pathways. More than 50% of shark and ray species in the Mediterranean Sea are considered threatened with extinction, and these newly identified areas should be considered for protection.  

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Important Shark and Ray Areas delineated in the Mediterranean and Black Seas

12/5/2023

 
"Five-day workshop on ISRA concludes with 85 areas to consider."

PRESS RELEASE | May 12, 2023
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​Thessaloniki, Greece. May 12, 2023. This week marks the first time a team of global and regional experts have gathered to map critical habitats for sharks, rays, and chimaeras across the Mediterranean and Black Seas. The five-day workshop, organized by the IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group and hosted by iSea, allowed over 180 experts to contribute online and in person to the process of delineating Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) in this region.

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Important Shark and Ray Areas: a new tool to optimize spatial planning for sharks

9/3/2023

 
«Overall, delineating Important Shark and Ray Areas globally will transform shark conservation and contribute to reducing mortality in this highly threatened group.»

PRESS RELEASE | March 9, 2023
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​«Initiatives have been developed for specific taxa, such as birds (Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas) and marine mammals (Important Marine Mammal Areas) and for biodiversity more generally (Key Biodiversity Areas and Ecological or Biologically Significant Marine Areas). These approaches are now well accepted and utilized in spatial and conservation planning. Until recently, such an approach had yet to focus on sharks and their relatives, the rays and chimaeras (hereafter collectively referred to as sharks), one of the most threatened faunal lineages (37% of species are categorized as threatened with extinction on the IUCN Red List).» 

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First Map of Important Shark and Ray Areas Released

7/2/2023

 
«A new science-based tool to support spatial planning of threatened marine life»

PRESS RELEASE | Vancouver, Canada. February 7, 2023. 
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The Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) project has released the first electronic atlas of priority areas for sharks, rays, and chimaeras (also known as ‘ghost sharks’). Sharks and rays are some of the most threatened vertebrates on Earth, and are in desperate need of new and improved management. The ISRA project uses the best available science to identify regions across global waters most critical for the long term survival of sharks, rays, and chimaeras. These include places where species of concern mate, reproduce, feed, rest, or aggregate as well as key stopovers during a migration.

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First map of Important Shark and Ray Areas released

7/2/2023

 
"A new science-based tool to support spatial planning of threatened marine life"

PRESS RELEASE | February 07, 2023

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​Vancouver, Canada. February 7, 2023. The Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) project has released the first electronic atlas of priority areas for sharks, rays, and chimaeras (also known as ‘ghost sharks’). Sharks and rays are some of the most threatened vertebrates on Earth, and are in desperate need of new and improved management. The ISRA project uses the best available science to identify regions across global waters most critical for the long term survival of sharks, rays, and chimaeras. These include places where species of concern mate, reproduce, feed, rest, or aggregate as well as key stopovers during a migration.

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First Workshop identifies 73 candidate Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs)

23/1/2023

 
PRESS RELEASE | January 23, 2023
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The Shark and Ray Recovery Initiative (SARRI) and Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs) are two different projects with strong synergy and opportunities to achieve more. As a result of the partnership between leading conservationists and scientists – including members of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Elasmo Project, James Cook University (JCU), and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) – SAARI aims to recover 23 Endangered and Critically Endangered species in some of their last hotspots by introducing ‘shark recovery zones’ in the next decade.

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Important Shark and Ray Areas - Selection Criteria

5/1/2023

 
PRESS RELEASE | January 05, 2023
Available in: EN & ES
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The identification of ISRAs is achieved through the application of scientifically based criteria. The ISRA Criteria were developed to provide a framework to objectively identify areas of importance to sharks, crucial for their persistence and, where required, recovery.

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Sawfish face global extinction unless overfishing is curbed

10/2/2021

 
Sawfish have disappeared from half of the world's coastal waters and the distinctive shark-like rays face complete extinction due to overfishing, according to a new study by Simon Fraser University researchers, published in Science Advances.

PRESS RELEASE | Simon Fraser University, Canada | February 10, 2021
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© Dana Bethea
Sawfish, named after their unique long, narrow noses lined by teeth, called rostra, that resemble a sawblade, were once found along the coastlines of 90 countries but they are now among the world’s most threatened family of marine fishes, presumed extinct from 46 of those nations. There are 18 countries where at least one species of sawfish is missing, and 28 more where two species have disappeared

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Oceanic Sharks and Rays Face Unprecedented Extinction Risk from Overfishing

27/1/2021

 
Ground-breaking New Study Finds Global Abundance Down 71% and 77% of species threatened
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PRESS RELEASE | January 27, 2021
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Great Hammerhead Shark (Sphryna mokarran) © Neil Hammerschlag
A new analysis published today in the journal Nature documents an alarming, ongoing, global decline of oceanic shark and ray populations over the past 50 years, primarily due to overfishing. A team of experts from around the world assessed 31 species and found a 71% decline in global abundance since 1970, a period that saw a doubling of fishing pressure and a tripling of shark and ray catches. Three-quarters (77%) of oceanic shark and ray species now qualify as threatened with extinction under the Red List criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

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Important Shark and Ray Areas - Informative Brochure

20/1/2020

 
PRESS RELEASE | January 20, 2022
Available in: EN, AR, ES, FR, PT
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The IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group, with support from the IUCN Global Marine and Polar Programme and the IUCN Task Force on Marine Mammal Protected Areas, is engaged in an effort to develop an expert-driven innovative approach to ensure that discrete portions of habitats, critical to shark species — Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) — are delineated and used in various place-based conservation and management initiatives across the world’s ocean.

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A Special Group of Rays Are Now World’s Most Threatened Marine Fish

18/7/2019

 
IUCN Shark Specialist Group Flags Need to Protect Critically Endangered “Rhino Rays”
 
PRESS RELEASE | London, 18 July, 2019
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Whitespotted Wedgefish (Rhynchobatus djiddensis) © Matthew D. Potenski
Giant guitarfishes and wedgefishes, collectively called Rhino Rays, are now the world’s most threatened marine fish, based on new Red List assessments released today by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Shark Specialist Group (SSG). All but one of the 16 warm-water, shark-like ray species are assessed as Critically Endangered due primarily to overfishing for meat and fins.

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Shark Overfishing Reflected in Updated IUCN Red List

21/3/2019

 
Experts call for conservation action as more species qualify as Endangered
 
PRESS RELEASE | London, 21 March, 2019
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Shortfin Mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) © Jeremy Stafford-Deitsch, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
The Shark Specialist Group (SSG) of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) today released updated Red List Assessments for 58 species of sharks and rays, 17 of which were classified as threatened with extinction. The results are part of a global project to assess population trends based on a series of expert workshops, the first of which focused on Australian species as well as oceanic species found worldwide.

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Saving sharks with trees: researchers aim to save key branches of shark and ray tree of life

18/1/2018

 
New study identifies conservation priorities based on evolutionary history and biogeography

PRESS RELEASE | January 18, 2018
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To shine light on and conserve rare shark, ray, and chimaera species (chondrichthyans), SFU researchers have developed a fully-resolved family tree and ranked every species according to the unique evolutionary history they account for.

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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