Overfishing pushes quarter of sharks, rays to extinction

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/deadliest-catch-overfishing-pushes-quarter-sharks-rays-extinction-2D11968034


Denise Chow, Staff Writer LiveScience
Jan. 21, 2014

A quarter of the world's sharks and rays are at risk of extinction, according to a new assessment by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The latest update to the IUCN's "Red List" of threatened species, which found ray species to be at higher risk than sharks, is part of a first-ever global analysis of these marine species.

-----

"Our analysis shows that sharks and their relatives are facing an alarmingly elevated risk of extinction," Nick Dulvy, co-chair of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group and Canada Research Chair at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada, said in a statement. "In greatest peril are the largest species of rays and sharks, especially those living in shallow water that is accessible to fisheries," where they can become entangled in fishing gear — a phenomenon known as bycatch.

-----

In particular, the global market for shark fins, used in shark fin soup, is severely depleting shark species, and even some ray species that have fins, such as guitarfish. These marine animals are also hunted for their meat, which can be made into products such as Chinese tonic, from manta and devil ray gills, or pharmaceuticals, from deep-sea shark livers, IUCN researchers said.

-----