Oceanic Sharks and Rays Face Unprecedented Extinction Risk from Overfishing

Ground-breaking New Study Finds Global Abundance Down 71% and 77% of species threatened
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PRESS RELEASE | January 27, 2021

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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