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Environmental modelling results Estimated relationships between mean monthly relative density of all sharks (top) and fishing effort of all AIS-equipped fishing vessels (middle) and longline-fishing vessels only (bottom), with all environmental variables in the highest-ranked model (model 1) of the GAM tested. The third column shows the interaction results between the two variables described in the first and second columns. Asterisks indicate the significance level for each smooth term included in the GAM; ***P < 0.001.
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Effective ocean management and the conservation of highly migratory species depend on resolving the overlap between animal movements and distributions, and fishing effort. However, this information is lacking at a global scale. Here we show, using a big-data approach that combines satellite-tracked movements of pelagic sharks and global fishing fle...
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... For example, in North Atlantic blue sharks and shortfin mako have on average 76% and 62% of their monthly space use, respectively, overlapped by longline fishing effort 1,2 , with greater fishinginduced mortality of pelagic sharks where spatial overlap intensity was greater 49 . Importantly, even though logbook data and VMS/AIS locations did not overlap temporally, fishing hotspots tend to remain constant over the years 2,49,50,98 . For example, the fishing hotspot for the Spanish fleet in the eastern South Pacific remained relatively stable, between 2010 and 2019 ( Fig. 3a, b,c). ...
Populations of large pelagic sharks are declining worldwide due to overfishing. Determining the overlap between shark populations and fishing activities is important to inform conservation measures. However, for many threatened sharks the whereabouts of particularly vulnerable life-history stages – such as pregnant females and juveniles – are poorly known. Here, we investigated the spatial distribution of size classes, energy transfer and reproductive states of pregnant females of the endangered shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus, using spatially resolved catch data from a Spanish surface longline vessel (1996 − 2009) in the South-east Pacific Ocean. Our results suggest a general eastward gradient of occurrence of pregnant females of thousands of kilometers from western oceanic feeding grounds towards the eastern Pacific, where we observed an aggregation area of small juveniles. Moreover, the potential nursery likely overlapped a longline fishing hotspot, increasing the vulnerability of juveniles from fisheries. Our results suggest that limiting fishing pressure in this area could reduce mortality of early life stages and contribute to the conservation of this endangered shark species.
... Vol:. (1234567890) concentration of studies, particularly those for movement ecology, occurred around North America and Australia, potentially reflecting variation in research funding (i.e., a pattern that is also noted in large collaborative tagging studies such as Queiroz et al. (2019) and Andrzejaczek et al. (2022)). In contrast, fisheries science studies exhibited a broader geographical distribution (Figure 2). ...
The lunar cycle has a major influence on the daily structure of marine ecosystems. As the moon orbits the earth across an approximate 29.5 day cycle, it influences these systems by altering nighttime light availability and shaping the strength and timing of tides. Numerous studies have documented the effects of the lunar cycle on large epipelagic fishes (here referring to tuna, billfish, sharks and rays), however, there has been no concerted effort to systematically compare these patterns across studies. Here, we review 190 studies documenting the effects of the lunar cycle on the ecology of large epipelagic fishes and discuss the potential underlying factors that contribute to the observed patterns. Most studies focused on fisheries science and movement ecology, examining metrics such as catch rate and depth of tagged individuals, respectively. A smaller proportion of studies delved into foraging behaviors and behavioral patterns. The effects observed varied among study types and taxa, yet vertical movement patterns consistently indicated a trend of deeper movements with increasing lunar illumination. Many factors likely contribute to this variation, including study specific methods (both field and analytical), other light sources or obstructions in the marine environment (such as bioluminescence and cloud cover), local site variation (such as local oceanography and prey distribution), species specific traits (such as distribution and foraging strategy) and individual traits (such as ontogenetic stage and body condition). We propose best practices for future studies on lunar effects, aimed at addressing this variation and promoting comparative analyses.
Graphical abstract
... Unsustainable fisheries are driving global population declines for elasmobranchs (sharks and rays) at alarming rates (Pauly et al. 1998;Queiroz et al. 2019). Of most concern are rays, which include five out of the seven most threatened elasmobranch families (Dulvy et al. 2021). ...
Due to overexploitation in fisheries partly driven by international trade demand, mobulid rays are among the most threatened of elasmobranch families. We conducted a global assessment of the state of manta and devil ray trade employing expert elicitation through country-focused online surveys (n = 109) and interviews (n = 21), along with analysis of the FAO Total Production and CITES Trade Databases, and online trade and physical store surveys in China and Hong Kong SAR. Findings across 75 countries reveal significant mobulid landings in 43 countries. Globally, mobulid meat is consumed locally in at least 35 countries and exported from ten, with five major destination countries. Gill plates are extracted in 14 countries and exported from at least 14 across Asia and Africa, with five major destination countries in Asia. Meat and gill plate prices ranged between 0.24 – 10 and 4.8 – 1260 USD/kg respectively, depending on country and product form. Physical retailers of gill plates declined in Guangzhou and Hong Kong SAR in the past decade, while online retailers increased, but overall, the total number of retailers rose from 41 to 135 between 2011 and 2023. By linking country-specific mobulid management data to their roles in the meat and gill plate trade, price ranges, consumption patterns, and landing data, we ranked 75 countries from highest to lowest impact upon mobulid populations, identifying 14 as high-priority. Findings highlight the need for improved capacity-building in fisheries management and stronger enforcement aimed collectively at reversing the current unsustainable consumption and trade of mobulids.
... While there is a growing knowledge base of information on how threats like overfishing, habitat loss, and climate change-induced shifts in prey availability impact shark species in shallow coastal and open ocean regions, there is comparatively limited information available from the deep sea (Field et al., 2009;Queiroz et al., 2019). Additionally, the extensive exploitation of oil, gas, and fisheries biomass presents substantial, and potentially increasing, challenges to deep-sea environments (Howell et al., 2020). ...
The roughskin dogfish Centroscymnus owstonii, a deep‐sea shark, has a patchy global distribution, with most knowledge stemming from incidentally captured specimens. Using a deep‐sea remote lander video system, we observed multiple C. owstonii individuals alive on the footage at 1054 m off Little Cayman, Cayman Islands, Western Atlantic Ocean, marking, to our knowledge, the first record of the species in the Greater Antilles, central Caribbean Sea, while also adding a new species locality record for the Cayman Islands. This study expands our knowledge of the distribution of the roughskin dogfish in the region, and highlights the utility of video lander systems for enhancing and expanding our understanding of the biology and diversity of deep‐sea sharks.
... Given their wide spatial ranges and regular migrations, they are subject to inconsistent levels of management and a myriad of threats (Block et al., 2011;Dunn et al., 2016;Harrison et al., 2018;Pinsky et al., 2018;Santos et al., 2024). Understanding HMS movement patterns in response to changing oceanographic conditions and adapting their protective measures appropriately are research priorities (Hazen et al., 2013;Queiroz et al., 2019). In addition to the direct conservation benefits of HMS populations, adequate management of marine species remains ecologically beneficial to the ecosystems they inhabit and economically imperative for fisheries and ecotourism (Hammerschlag et al., 2019). ...
... Barriers to translating tracking data into conservation policies largely revolve around the lack of effective communication and collaboration between researchers, stakeholders, policymakers, and end-users throughout the research and dissemination process McGowan et al., 2017). The cumulative and growing threats confronting HMS necessitate a logical and well-planned approach to data collection to adequately support accurate space-use models and informed management decisions (McGowan et al., 2017;Queiroz et al., 2019). ...
Dynamic ocean management (DOM) is a critical approach for protecting highly migratory species amid environmental variability and change. We conducted an adapted systematic review to assess how animal movement and environmental data are used in DOM applications, identifying key data traits, barriers, and research priorities. Animal tag data inform initial assessments of species distributions, development of habitat models, near real‐time model inputs, and iterative model evaluation for dynamic management. In documented examples, effective translation of scientific insights into dynamic management products has resulted from early communication between researchers and stakeholders, integration of environmental and fisheries‐dependent data into advanced habitat modeling approaches, and reformatting of outputs for interdisciplinary needs. However, challenges persist around data gaps, science‐policy translation, and technical capacity limitations. Our findings highlight the importance of intentional, collaborative data collection, translation, and sharing to enable dynamic, climate‐resilient management of migratory species. We demonstrate DOM's adaptability and provide guidance for researchers and practitioners to contribute and use impactful data that informs responsive management decision‐making.
... Mangroves, coral reefs, spawning aggregations, and colonies may be effectively protected by a fixed, spatial tools such as a traditional MPA, but pelagic species, particularly those that make the bulk of the biodiversity of the ESS, have gigantic foraging ranges as are highly migratory (Block et al. 2011;Queiroz et al. 2019;Campagna et al. 2020). For them, fixed, protected sites are partially ineffective or impractical. ...
We discuss species conservation in the temperate Extended Shelf System (ESS) of the SW Atlantic, an area the size of the Mediterranean Sea. The ESS is distinctive due to its shallow continental plateau and the predictable Patagonian Shelf-Break Front (PSBF), generated by the interaction of the Brazil and Malvinas currents with the bathymetry of the shelf and slope. The PSBF is a main driving force that sustains species diversity and abundance, including charismatic species of penguins, albatrosses, seals, and whales. From a conservation standpoint, the ESS is vulnerable. An expanding international fishery operates on the shelf and the slope. From 113 regionally red-listed vertebrates, 28% were threatened; sharks and rays being the most affected. Argentina’s coastal MPAs protect mainly breeding colonies of birds and mammals. Three oceanic National Parks protect a submerged plateau and its surrounding southern slope (Namuncurá-Burdwood Bank) and some benthic-pelagic habitats in the Drake Passage. Yet, despite protected places and available management tools, threatened species remain exposed to risks of local extinction. The ESS is here envisioned as a conservation unit, where interventions follow oceanographic function. Conservation effectiveness may be enhanced if focusing on the most endangered groups. Adaptive, dynamic, and ecosystemic management could be combined with seasonal and movable protected sites. Human-forced global warming, but also the sovereignty conflict over the Malvinas Archipelago, pose considerable challenges to this vision.
... After beach nets were deployed in New South Wales Australia in 1937, the annual number of shark bites decreased by ∼90% (Dudley 1997) yet since 2000, there have been periods of more shark-human interactions at netted beaches than non-netted ones (Huveneers et al. 2024). Although shark culling campaigns still remain a politically attractive response to shark bites in some locations, there is no convincing evidence that they actually reduce risk (Ferretti et al. 2015) and the tide of public opinion is turning against them (Simmons and Mehmet 2018;Simmons et al. 2021) as the public learns more about the ecological importance of sharks and the conservation plight that they currently face from overfishing (Dulvy et al. 2017;Meeuwig and Ferreira 2014;Queiroz et al. 2019). ...
It is widely accepted that populations of terrestrial predators sometimes contain “problem individuals” that repeatedly attackhumans, yet this phenomenon has never been demonstrated in sharks. Here, we present photographic and genetic evidence of
individuals in populations of tiger Galeocerdo cuvier and oceanic whitetip Carcharhinus longimanus sharks that (1) demonstrated atypical behavior compared to the rest of the population, (2) engaged in repeated agonistic behavior directed toward humans, and
(3) bit, or attempted to bite humans in probable foraging attempts. These case studies provide some of the first evidence for the existence of “problem individuals” among sharks. The percentage of fatalities due to the same shark individual are not known, so
we recommend systematic swabbing of shark bite victims wounds to better understand the importance of this phenomenon and the possibility of identifying these animals. Environmentally conscientious management options for problem individuals range from prohibiting ocean activities (e.g., swimming and surfing) in their habitats to selectively removing the individual, although the latter would be challenging in the marine environment.
... A similar issue is the possible scale dependency in the analysis of fishing pressure. Queiroz et al. (2019) resolved the global overlap between pelagic longline fisheries identified via ML by Kroodsma et al. (2018) and the spatial distribution of pelagic sharks to identify risk hotspots of shark bycatch and intentional catches. Even if results are correct at a global scale and are looked upon at a regional level by experts, the enormity of the data set (>70k AIS tracked vessels in this case) can result in misidentification on a localized scale (Queiroz et al. 2019(Queiroz et al. , 2021. ...
... Queiroz et al. (2019) resolved the global overlap between pelagic longline fisheries identified via ML by Kroodsma et al. (2018) and the spatial distribution of pelagic sharks to identify risk hotspots of shark bycatch and intentional catches. Even if results are correct at a global scale and are looked upon at a regional level by experts, the enormity of the data set (>70k AIS tracked vessels in this case) can result in misidentification on a localized scale (Queiroz et al. 2019(Queiroz et al. , 2021. Harry and Braccini (2021) identified false positives in this classification of pelagic longliners leading to an overestimation of fishing pressure hotspots in certain regions in Australian waters with likely implications for conservation and management. ...
Fisheries science aims to understand and manage marine natural resources. It relies onresource-intensive sampling and data analysis. Within this context, the emergence of machinelearning (ML) systems holds significant promise for understanding disparate components ofthese marine ecosystems and gaining a greater understanding of their dynamics. The goal ofthis paper is to present a review of ML applications in fisheries science. It highlights boththeir advantages over conventional approaches and their drawbacks, particularly in terms ofoperationality and possible robustness issues. This review is organized from small to largescales. It begins with genomics and subsequently expands to individuals (catch items),aggregations of different species in situ , on-board processing, stock/populations assessmentand dynamics, spatial mapping, fishing-related organizational units, and finally ecosystemdynamics. Each field has its own set of challenges, such as pre-processing steps, the quantityand quality of training data, the necessity of appropriate model validation, and knowingwhere ML algorithms are more limited, and we discuss some of these discipline-specificchallenges. The scope of discussion of applied methods ranges from conventional statisticalmethods to data-specific approaches that use a higher level of semantics. The paper concludeswith the potential implications of ML applications on management decisions and a summaryof the benefits and challenges of using these techniques in fisheries.
... After beach nets were deployed in New South Wales Australia in 1937, the annual number of shark bites decreased by ∼90% (Dudley 1997) yet since 2000, there have been periods of more shark-human interactions at netted beaches than non-netted ones (Huveneers et al. 2024). Although shark culling campaigns still remain a politically attractive response to shark bites in some locations, there is no convincing evidence that they actually reduce risk (Ferretti et al. 2015) and the tide of public opinion is turning against them (Simmons and Mehmet 2018;Simmons et al. 2021) as the public learns more about the ecological importance of sharks and the conservation plight that they currently face from overfishing (Dulvy et al. 2017;Meeuwig and Ferreira 2014;Queiroz et al. 2019). ...
It is widely accepted that populations of terrestrial predators sometimes contain “problem individuals” that repeatedly attack humans, yet this phenomenon has never been demonstrated in sharks. Here, we present photographic and genetic evidence of individuals in populations of tiger Galeocerdo cuvier and oceanic whitetip Carcharhinus longimanus sharks that (1) demonstrated atypical behavior compared to the rest of the population, (2) engaged in repeated agonistic behavior directed toward humans, and (3) bit, or attempted to bite humans in probable foraging attempts. These case studies provide some of the first evidence for the existence of “problem individuals” among sharks. The percentage of fatalities due to the same shark individual are not known, so we recommend systematic swabbing of shark bite victims wounds to better understand the importance of this phenomenon and the possibility of identifying these animals. Environmentally conscientious management options for problem individuals range from prohibiting ocean activities (e.g., swimming and surfing) in their habitats to selectively removing the individual, although the latter would be challenging in the marine environment.
... The combination of these two technologies allows for high-resolution analysis of the spatial and temporal dynamics of shark-fishing interactions on fine and broad scales. A recent large-scale study used this approach to determine the overlap between pelagic shark movements and longline fishing vessels globally, finding that 24% of the space used by these sharks overlapped with fishing activity (Queiroz et al. 2019). Additionally, Jacoby et al. (2020) used acoustic telemetry and illegal fishing activity data to predict the long-term movements of sharks and identify risk of exposure to fishing. ...
... Similar competition for resources has been documented where silky sharks and oceanic whitetip sharks (Carcharhinus longimanus) co-occur with tuna species, which are simultaneously targeted by commercial fishers (Tolotti et al. 2020;Young and Carlson 2020). Larger scale studies have also documented a high degree of overlap between longline fishing activity and a range of pelagic shark species (Queiroz et al. 2019). ...
Fisher-shark conflict is occurring at Lord Howe Island, Australia due to high levels of Galapagos shark (Carcharhinus galapagensis) depredation (where sharks consume hooked fish) and bycatch. Depredation causes costly loss of target catch and fishing gear and increased mortality of target species, and sharks can be injured or killed when bycaught. This study applied acoustic telemetry and vessel tracking from 2018 to 2021 to identify; (1) how the movements of 30 tagged sharks and activity of six fishing vessels overlapped, and (2) where key ‘hotspots’ of overlap occurred. Fisher surveys were also conducted to collect information about mitigating shark interactions. Residency index analysis indicated that three sharks tagged at a fish waste dumping site had markedly higher residency. Core home ranges of sharks overlapped with higher fishing activity at four ‘hotspots’. Statistical modelling indicated positive linear effects of fishing activity and bathymetric complexity on shark detections and tagged sharks were present for 13% of the total time that vessels were fishing close to acoustic receivers. Spatio-temporal overlaps between shark movements and fishing activity could potentially have occurred because sharks learned to associate fishing vessels with food (i.e. hooked fish) and because fishers and sharks utilise highly productive shelf edge areas, however more research is needed to investigate these relationships. Fishers reported that rotating fishing areas and reducing time at each location, fishing deeper than 100 m, and using electric reels and lures instead of bait, reduced bycatch and depredation. The integrated approach used here identified practical methods for reducing fisher-shark conflict, improving socio-economic outcomes for fishers and conservation prospects for this unique shark population.
