Affiliation:
1. Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada B3H 4J1.
Abstract
Overexploitation threatens the future of many large vertebrates. In the ocean, tunas and sea turtles are current conservation concerns because of this intense pressure. The status of most shark species, in contrast, remains uncertain. Using the largest data set in the Northwest Atlantic, we show rapid large declines in large coastal and oceanic shark populations. Scalloped hammerhead, white, and thresher sharks are each estimated to have declined by over 75% in the past 15 years. Closed-area models highlight priority areas for shark conservation, and the need to consider effort reallocation and site selection if marine reserves are to benefit multiple threatened species.
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Reference36 articles.
1. A Multispecies Overkill Simulation of the End-Pleistocene Megafaunal Mass Extinction
2. What was natural in the coastal oceans?
3. C. Safina Song for the Blue Ocean (Holt New York 1998).
4. Spotila J. R., Reina R. D., Steyermark A. C., Plotkin P. T., Paladino F. V., Nature 405, 529 (2000).
5. The low fecundity and late age at maturity of elasmobranchs (sharks skates rays) render these fishes more vulnerable to overexploitation than most teleost fishes as evidenced by the history of collapsed shark fisheries (6).
Cited by
875 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献，注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献，订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献