Rima W. Jabado

Elasmo Project

Landing site and market surveys of sharks landed along the Arabian Gulf coast of the United Arab Emirates were undertaken between October 2010 and September 2012 to obtain biological data from this artisanal fishery. Data were collected on the size and sex of 12 482 individuals representing 30 species. Maximum sizes of Carcharhinus sorrah, C. ambly...

The Arabian Seas Region plays an important role in the global landings and trade of sharks and rays. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Yemen, two countries with stark socioeconomic differences, serve as major regional trade hubs for shark and ray products and four countries (Oman, Pakistan, UAE and Yemen) supply nearly 11% of dried fin exports to...

Shark-like batoids (Rhinopristiformes) represent of some of the most threatened families of sharks and rays. In certain regions, they are a relatively important component of elasmobranch fisheries, commonly taken as by-catch in gillnets and longlines, but also increasingly targeted for their high value fins and meat. This demand, combined with inte...

The extinction risk of sharks, rays and chimaeras is higher than that for most other vertebrates due to low intrinsic population growth rates of many species and the fishing intensity they face. The Arabian Sea and adjacent waters border some of the most important chondrichthyan fishing and trading nations globally, yet there has been no previous a...

Data on the diversity and relative abundance of elasmobranchs (sharks and rays) in the Arabian Gulf have been limited to fishery-dependent monitoring of landing sites. Understanding the diversity and abundance of sharks and rays is, however, crucial to inform policy and management plans. Baited Remote Underwater Video Surveys (BRUVS) were conducted...

Rhino rays (Order Rhinopristiformes) are one of the most threatened vertebrate groups. Despite overfishing being recognised as the greatest threat to this group, a comprehensive assessment of the fisheries and types of fishing gear that rhino rays interact with is lacking. We reviewed published and grey literature ( n = 116 references) to evaluate...

Fisheries bycatch is considered the largest threat to sea turtle populations globally. However, it has been challenging to assess the impact of bycatch on sea turtles in some regions such as Northwest Africa (i.e. Cabo Verde, Guinea, Guinea–Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal, Sierra Leone and The Gambia) owing to large data gaps. This hampers effective ma...

A global survey of coral reefs reveals that overfishing is driving resident shark species toward extinction, causing diversity deficits in reef elasmobranch (shark and ray) assemblages. Our species level analysis revealed global declines of 60 to 73% for five common resident reef shark species and that individual shark species were not detected at...

For decades, even centuries, people have taken deliberate, targeted actions for the conservation and management of species and ecosystems [...]

Abstract The Bull Shark (Carcharhinus leucas) faces varying levels of exploitation around the world due to its coastal distribution. Information regarding population connectivity is crucial to evaluate its conservation status and local fishing impacts. In this study, we sampled 922 putative Bull Sharks from 19 locations in the first global assessme...

Until recently, the tentacled butterfly ray, Gymnura tentaculata (Valenciennes in Müller & Henle, 1841), had not been seen for over three decades and had been assessed as Critically Endangered–Possibly Extinct on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. An elasmobranch-specific monitoring program undertaken between October 2019 and July 2020 allowe...

Sharks and rays are key functional components of coral reef ecosystems, yet many populations of a few species exhibit signs of depletion and local extinctions. The question is whether these declines forewarn of a global extinction crisis. We use IUCN Red List to quantify the status, trajectory, and threats to all coral reef sharks and rays worldwid...

Overfishing is recognized as the most pervasive threat to sharks and rays globally. While there is increasing emphasis on ecological aspects of shark and ray fisheries, socio-economic considerations are often poorly incorporated into management policies. Here, we assess the utilization and trade of sharks and rays across the Andaman Islands by cond...

This document has been submitted by the Government of Panama * , in relation to Prop 37, 38, 39 and 40, and agenda item 65 and 87.2 Effective policy should be informed by rigorous evidence. This is particularly true for binding intergovernmental agreements like the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CIT...

Iran is one of the top 26 chondrichthyan-fishing nations and yet there is a large gap in our knowledge of these species across national waters. Despite having a much higher extinction risk compared to sharks and chimaeras, rays have typically received less attention. Therefore, here we describe threats to ray populations in Iranian waters based on...

Understanding the population structure of a species is important to accurately assess its conservation status and manage the risk of local extinction. The Bull Shark ( Carcharhinus leucas ) faces varying levels of exploitation around the world due to its coastal distribution. Information regarding population connectivity is crucial to evaluate its...

Area-based conservation is essential to safeguard declining biodiversity. Several approaches have been developed for identifying networks of globally important areas based on the delineation of sites or seascapes of importance for various elements of biodiversity (e.g., birds, marine mammals). Sharks, rays, and chimaeras are facing a biodiversity c...

There is scarce information on the current importance of oyster beds as fishing grounds in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This study aims to understand the socioeconomic value of oyster bed fisheries through questionnaire based surveys with fishers. Of 106 Emirati fishers interviewed, 67 % use oyster beds due to the proximity to shore, better catc...

For elusive, data-poor marine fauna, Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) can be a rich and often underutilised source of biological and ecological data. We used a socio-ecological approach to assess LEK and provide key insights into the distribution, habitat use pattern, and threats facing giant guitarfishes (Glaucostegus spp.) in the Andaman Islands,...

Wild animals are captured or taken opportunistically, and the meat, body parts, and/or eggs are consumed for local subsistence or used for traditional purposes to some extent across most of the world, particularly in the tropics and subtropics. The consumption of aquatic animals is widespread, in some places has been sustained for millennia, and ca...

The southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO) is a hotspot of endemic and evolutionarily distinct sharks and rays. We summarise the extinction risk of the sharks and rays endemic to coastal, shelf, and slope waters of the SWIO and adjacent waters (Namibia to Kenya, including SWIO islands). Thirteen of 70 species (19%) are threatened: one is Critically Endanger...

In recent years, the eagle ray family Myliobatidae has undergone major taxonomic revisions due to molecular and morphological findings. A new species of eagle ray, Aetomylaeus wafickii sp. nov., is described based on specimens collected from the Arabian Gulf, Northwest Indian Ocean. The new species externally most closely resembles A. caeruleofasci...

Wedgefishes (Rhinidae) and giant guitarfishes (Glaucostegidae) are amongst the most threatened marine taxa globally. Research was undertaken in Singapore, a globally significant trading hub for shark and ray products, between May 2019 (two months after they were proposed for listing on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of...

The scale and drivers of marine biodiversity loss are being revealed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessment process. We present the first global reassessment of 1,199 species in Class Chondrichthyes—sharks, rays, and chimeras. The first global assessment (in 2014) concluded that one-quarter (24%) of species...

The southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO) is a hotspot of endemic and evolutionarily distinct sharks and rays. We summarise the extinction risk of the sharks and rays endemic to coastal, shelf, and slope waters of the SWIO and adjacent waters (Namibia to Kenya, including SWIO islands). Thirteen of 70 species (19%) are threatened: one is Critically Endanger...

The scale and drivers of marine biodiversity loss are being revealed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessment process. We present the first global reassessment of 1,199 species in Class Chondrichthyes—sharks, rays, and chimeras. The first global assessment (in 2014) concluded that one-quarter (24%) of species...

IUCN Red List assessment of the Thorny Whipray

IUCN Red List assessment of the Smooth Stingray

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are increasingly advocated for the protection of key functional groups like elasmobranchs (sharks and rays). However, substantial uncertainty remains regarding which species can benefit from MPAs, crucial information to support policy and management plans. Using Baited Remote Underwater Video Surveys (BRUVS), a study w...

• All five species of sawfishes (family Pristidae) are amongst the most threatened marine fishes in the world, with steep population declines and local extinctions documented across their ranges. • Sawfishes have featured in Sri Lankan species checklists since 1889. However, landing records are extremely rare and little information is available on...

A total of 138 chondrichthyan species—11% of the world’s known species—are currently known to occur in the waters surrounding the Arabian Peninsula, including 68 sharks from 22 families and 41 genera, 68 rays from 14 families and 33 genera, and two chimaeras from one family and one genus. Of these, 29 species are endemic to the region. The chondric...

Sharks and rays are possibly the most threatened Class of marine fishes and their declines can be halted if protected areas are optimised to benefit these species. We identify spatial priorities for all 63 endemic sharks and rays in the marine biodiversity hotspot, the Western Indian Ocean (WIO). Collectively, while the WIO nations currently surpas...

The rehabilitation of wildlife can contribute directly to the conservation of threatened species by helping to maintain wild populations. This study focused on determining the post-rehabilitation survival and spatial ecology of sea turtles and on comparing the movements of individuals with flipper amputations (amputees) to non-amputee animals. Our...

Extinctions on land are often inferred from sparse sightings over time, but this technique is ill-suited for wide-ranging species. We develop a space-for-time approach to track the spatial contraction and drivers of decline of sawfishes. These iconic and endangered shark-like rays were once found in warm, coastal waters of 90 nations and are now pr...

Overfishing is the primary cause of marine defaunation, yet declines in and increasing extinction risks of individual species are difficult to measure, particularly for the largest predators found in the high seas. Here we calculate two well-established indicators to track progress towards Aichi Biodiversity Targets and Sustainable Development Goal...

Rhino rays comprise 64 species of shark-like rays from five families. Over two-thirds (69%) are threatened with extinction with 41% Critically Endangered (these face an extremely high risk of extinction). All sawfishes and giant guitarfishes, 90% of wedgefishes, 59% of guitarfishes, and 38% of banjo rays are threatened. The major driver of endanger...

IUCN Red List Species Assessment

Practical biodiversity conservation relies on delineation of biologically meaningful units. Manta and devil rays (Mobulidae) are threatened worldwide, yet morphological similarities and a succession of recent taxonomic changes impede the development of an effective conservation strategy. Here, we generate genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism...

Detailed information on shark and ray fisheries in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India are limited, including information on the diversity and biological characteristics of these species. We carried out fish landing surveys in South Andamans from January 2017 to May 2018, a comprehensive and cost-effective way to fill this data gap. We sampled 5...

The coasts and islands that flank Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE)'s largest emirate, host the country's most significant coastal and marine habitats including coral reefs. These reefs, although subject to a variety of pressures from urban and industrial encroachment and climate change, exhibit the highest thresholds for coral bleaching an...

The Arabian Gulf is a semi-enclosed sea largely isolated from surrounding bodies of water. Due to several physical attributes, this basin comprises a variety of habitats that are influenced by strong seasonal fluctuations in abiotic conditions, which in turn puts considerable stress on local species. The biodiversity of this body of water has been...

Microsatellites are useful in studies of population genetics, sibship, and parentage. Here, we screened for microsatellites from multiple elasmobranch genomic libraries using an enrichment protocol followed by sequencing on an Illumina platform. We concurrently screened five and then nine genomes and describe the number of potential loci from each...

• The process of understanding the rapid global decline of sawfishes (Pristidae) has revealed great concern for their relatives, the wedgefishes (Rhinidae) and giant guitarfishes (Glaucostegidae), not least because all three families are targeted for their high‐value and internationally traded ‘white’ fins. • The objective of this study was to asse...

The scientific literature on the diversity and biological characteristics of sharks and rays from the Andaman and Nicobar Archipelago fishing grounds is scarce and compromised by species misidentifications. We carried out systematic fish landing surveys in South Andamans from January 2017 to May 2018, a comprehensive and cost-effective way to fill...

The longhorned pygmy devil ray Mobula eregoodoo (Cantor, 1849), formerly known as Mobula eregoodootenkee (Bleeker, 1859), is a small mobulid with a disc reaching a maximum width of 1.3 m, widely ranging in tropical and subtropical latitudes across the Indian Ocean, the Indo‐Pacific region, and the western Pacific Ocean. A recently emerged opportuni...

Commercial fish species are excellent indicators of the effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPA). Sir Bu Nair (SBN) MPA was established 20 years ago. It hosts the healthiest coral reef in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and a rich and diverse marine life. We assessed 10 species in SBN, using Baited Underwater Videos (BUV). Emperors, groupers an...

Conservation science is crucial to global conservation efforts, and often involves projects where foreign scientists visit a host country to conduct research. Science can significantly contribute to conservation efforts in host countries. However, poorly conceived and implemented projects can lead to poor conservation outcomes, cause negative impac...

This study evaluates local-scale drivers of shark harvests in India, one of the world’s largest shark fishing nations. Focusing on key harbours in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra, which together contribute 54% of India’s shark harvest, this study uses a semi-structured survey to examine the practices of shark fishers and traders, their knowle...

The process of understanding the rapid global decline of sawfishes (Pristidae) has revealed great concern for their relatives, the wedgefishes (Rhinidae) and giant guitarfishes (Glaucostegidae), not least because all three families are targeted for their high-value and internationally-traded ‘white’ fins. The objective of this study was to assess t...