Results from the 2017 IUCN Regional Red List assessment of 153 species of chondrichthyan fishes (sharks, rays, and chimaeras) indicate the Arabian Sea and adjacent waters are home to some of the most threatened chondrichthyan populations in the world.

Conventional wisdom holds that sharks can't be harvested in a sustainable manner because they are long-lived animals. It takes time for them to reproduce and grow in numbers. But, researchers reporting in Current Biology on February 6 have evidence to suggest that sustainable shark fishing can be done with careful, science-based management. In fact, they say, an outright shark ban won't work. The only way to protect sharks and the food security of people who depend on them is by managing shark fisheries sustainably.

Shark and ray experts from around the world gathered this week at the Zoological Society London to address the plight of the most threatened marine fishes in the world – the sawfishes. The group, convened by the Shark Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is breaking new ground with the development of a focused global action plan to bring these iconic species back from the brink of extinction.