New additions to the global ISRA eAtlas reveal major migration corridors, nursery grounds, and aggregation sites across Atlantic, Caribbean and Pacific waters.
IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group unveils the first-ever coordinated global map of Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs) for CMS-listed sharks and rays
Major step forward for threatened species conservation in Northern Europe.
Atlantis Dubai announces the selection of seven local and international conservation and sustainability projects set to receive funding from the Atlantis Atlas Project Contribution Programme 2025-26 cycle, including the IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group. From June 2024 to May 2025, for every green meeting event and marine animal experience participated in by a guest, Atlantis Dubai contributed a portion of earnings, resulting in a $123,000 (USD) fund, which aims to support projects that help protect the ocean and our environment. Since the programme was launched in 2021, the initiative has now raised over half a million dollars ($509,000) and supported 30 projects.
As the biodiversity crisis in our oceans continues to raise alarm, major progress to protect pivotal ocean species was achieved today at the UN Ocean Conference.
Results of five-day workshop on Important Shark and Ray Areas final with 102 areas identified across the region.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has released a report, Global Status of Sharks, Rays and Chimaeras, that highlights new knowledge compiled by 353 experts from 115 countries and stresses the urgent need to address overfishing and bycatch in all countries.
Regional press releases available for: International, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and South America
“Protecting Sharks and Rays in Pacific Islands waters”
A recent assessment using the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species indicated that more than one-third of sharks, rays, and chimaeras are threatened with extinction.
See here for the press release by the Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines (LAMAVE), featuring the ISRAs delineated in the Asia region
The Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) project has released a compendium of Important Shark and Ray Areas identified the waters of Asia. Areas delineated range in size from 0.9 km2 to 420,817.93 km2, encompassing shallow coastal waters to seas as deep as 1,928 m. They are important for a wide range of threatened and non-threatened species including the Widenose Guitarfish Glaucostegus obtusus, the Giant Freshwater Whipray Urogymnus polylepis, the Megamouth Shark Megachasma pelagios.
