Chondrichthyans (sharks, rays, and chimaeras – hereafter referred to as ‘sharks’) are facing a global extinction crisis. According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, it is now estimated that over one-third of sharks are threatened with extinction. Over the last century, fisheries have had a massive cumulative impact on sharks and this threat has been compounded by habitat loss and climate change. Threat levels are highest in coastal habitats where 75% of threatened species occur. This makes sharks one of the most threatened taxon in the marine environment, second only to Amphibians at the global scale.
Considering that many shark species are long-lived, often with naturally low abundances, and particularly susceptible to fishing pressure, species are increasingly being affected. Fisheries and trade management measures alone are not enough to reverse population declines. However, a place-based conservation approach can play a critical role in halting these declines by sheltering populations from fishing pressure as well as habitat changes.
The IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group has developed an expert-driven innovative approach to ensure that discrete portions of habitats, critical to shark species – Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs) – are delineated and used in various place-based conservation and management initiatives across global waters. Recent innovations and developments in animal tracking, data collection, and reporting have enabled the recognition of discrete areas of the ocean that are significant for various groups of endemic or highly mobile animals such as Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs), Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs), and Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs).
The same approach is now being applied to shark conservation. In addition to pointing to locations where Marine Protected Areas (MPA) or MPA networks can be envisaged to specifically protect shark species, ISRAs can support environmental impact assessments of activities specifically affecting shark conservation, marine spatial planning exercises, and in international, regional, national and local conservation contexts. Given the rapid degradation of the conservation status of a very high proportion of shark species, along with the limited place-based protection these species have been benefiting from until now, implementing an ISRA approach at the global level is considered a matter of urgency.
