IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group
  • 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

Press Room

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

Picture
​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.
The new Atlas is being launched at the 5th International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) in Vancouver, Canada which brings together over 3,000 leading global ocean conservation professionals to chart the course towards protecting 30 percent of the world’s ocean by 2030. With important commitments by countries to address global biodiversity loss adopted in December 2022 through the Convention on Biological Diversity, there is momentum for action and change. But to achieve these ambitious targets, the tools to inform policy and take action need to be available. “Over the last few decades, the management of sharks, rays, and chimaeras has largely focused on measures related to curbing the impacts of fisheries and trade. But populations of these species continue to rapidly decline and we need new approaches to ensure we can reduce mortality. The ISRA project will provide decision-makers with spatial information on areas that are most critical to species and that can be managed for conservation,” said Dr Rima Jabado, ISRA project leader and Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group.
 
Initiated in late 2021, the ISRA project is based on similar efforts to identify key habitats for birds and marine mammals. Areas are delineated through a consultative process and during regional workshops that bring together local experts who are familiar with the species and waters in their region. This first release of Important Shark and Ray Areas focuses on the Central and South American Pacific Region (from the Gulf of California in Mexico to the tip of Chile) and consolidates information contributed and gathered by over 50 regional experts working across the field of marine conservation. Supported by the Shark Conservation Fund (SCF), the two upcoming workshops in 2023 will focus on the Mediterranean and Black Seas and Western Indian Ocean. An updated Atlas is expected to be released after each of these meetings to ensure the most updated data are available online. Geographic information System (GIS) layers for each area will be made freely available for scientists, managers, conservationists, or the interested public upon request, or anyone can view these areas on the ISRA electronic atlas available at https://sharkrayareas.org/e-atlas/. Users can also filter areas to view them based on the ISRA Criteria or by region, country, species, and depth.   
 
“As areas are added to the Atlas from around the world, it will become the most comprehensive and authoritative tool to identify areas most critical for the survival of sharks, rays, and chimaeras,” added Dr Jabado. Some ISRAs from the first release include areas such as the Cocos-Galápagos Swimway, a migratory corridor that connects important habitats between Costa Rica and Ecuador for at least seven threatened species including the Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus), Scalloped Hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini), and Pelagic Thresher Shark (Alopias pelagicus); the Costa Rica Thermal Dome, a dynamic oceanographic feature where Spinetail Devil Rays (Mobula mobular) feed and where Silky Sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis) form large aggregations; and the Gulf of Montijo in Panama where contemporary records of Largetooth Sawfish (Pristis pristis) indicate that the area is being used for reproductive purposes making it a regionally, if not globally, significant location.
 
Now that these important areas have been identified, they can be prioritized for the protections they need.  “As governments seek to implement their 30x30 obligations and develop impactful marine protected areas, SCF is pleased to support this work and plans to use it to guide its new Shark Biodiversity Initiative which is designed to enhance biodiversity by protecting the most biologically important areas for sharks and rays.” said Lee Crockett, Executive Director for the Shark Conservation Fund.
 
The ISRA project is also contributing to a suite of tools that have been developed to identify critical habitats for species. “As we continue working on identifying ISRAs in parallel with our work to delineate Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs), I look forward to seeing these maps side by side because that’s when we will start seeing real conservation priorities and inform spatial management”, added Prof. Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, co-Chair of the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Taskforce. The ultimate goal of these area-based approaches is to ensure that decision-makers have the right information to conserve species in an era of rapid biodiversity loss. For the first time, this will now be possible for sharks, rays, and chimaeras.

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    December 2024
    September 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    October 2023
    September 2023
    May 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    February 2021
    January 2021
    January 2020
    July 2019
    March 2019
    January 2018
    August 2017
    February 2017
    June 2016
    May 2016
    June 2014
    January 2014
    May 2012

    Categories

    All
    Angelshark
    Deep Water
    Fisheries
    Global Status Report (2024)
    Important Shark And Ray Areas
    IUCN Red List
    Press Release
    Rhino Rays
    Sawfish

    RSS Feed


Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
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