1. Directed conservation of the world's reef sharks and rays.
- Author
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Goetze JS, Heithaus MR, MacNeil MA, Harvey E, Simpfendorfer CA, Heupel MR, Meekan M, Wilson S, Bond ME, Speed CW, Currey-Randall LM, Fisher R, Sherman CS, Kiszka JJ, Rees MJ, Udyawer V, Flowers KI, Clementi GM, Asher J, Beaufort O, Bernard ATF, Berumen ML, Bierwagen SL, Boslogo T, Brooks EJ, Brown JJ, Buddo D, Cáceres C, Casareto S, Charloo V, Cinner JE, Clua EEG, Cochran JEM, Cook N, D'Alberto BM, de Graaf M, Dornhege-Lazaroff MC, Fanovich L, Farabaugh NF, Fernando D, Ferreira CEL, Fields CYA, Flam AL, Floros C, Fourqurean V, Barcia LG, Garla R, Gastrich K, George L, Graham R, Hagan V, Hardenstine RS, Heck SM, Heithaus P, Henderson AC, Hertler H, Hueter RE, Johnson M, Jupiter SD, Kaimuddin M, Kasana D, Kelley M, Kessel ST, Kiilu B, Kyne F, Langlois T, Lawe J, Lédée EJI, Lindfield S, Maggs JQ, Manjaji-Matsumoto BM, Marshall A, Matich P, McCombs E, McLean D, Meggs L, Moore S, Mukherji S, Murray R, Newman SJ, O'Shea OR, Osuka KE, Papastamatiou YP, Perera N, Peterson BJ, Pina-Amargós F, Ponzo A, Prasetyo A, Quamar LMS, Quinlan JR, Razafindrakoto CF, Rolim FA, Ruiz-Abierno A, Ruiz H, Samoilys MA, Sala E, Sample WR, Schärer-Umpierre M, Schoen SN, Schlaff AM, Smith ANH, Sparks L, Stoffers T, Tanna A, Torres R, Travers MJ, Valentin-Albanese J, Warren JD, Watts AM, Wen CK, Whitman ER, Wirsing AJ, Zarza-González E, and Chapman DD
- Subjects
- Animals, Conservation of Natural Resources methods, Sharks, Skates, Fish, Coral Reefs, Fisheries
- Abstract
Many shark populations are in decline around the world, with severe ecological and economic consequences. Fisheries management and marine protected areas (MPAs) have both been heralded as solutions. However, the effectiveness of MPAs alone is questionable, particularly for globally threatened sharks and rays ('elasmobranchs'), with little known about how fisheries management and MPAs interact to conserve these species. Here we use a dedicated global survey of coral reef elasmobranchs to assess 66 fully protected areas embedded within a range of fisheries management regimes across 36 countries. We show that conservation benefits were primarily for reef-associated sharks, which were twice as abundant in fully protected areas compared with areas open to fishing. Conservation benefits were greatest in large protected areas that incorporate distinct reefs. However, the same benefits were not evident for rays or wide-ranging sharks that are both economically and ecologically important while also threatened with extinction. We show that conservation benefits from fully protected areas are close to doubled when embedded within areas of effective fisheries management, highlighting the importance of a mixed management approach of both effective fisheries management and well-designed fully protected areas to conserve tropical elasmobranch assemblages globally., (© 2024. Crown.)
- Published
- 2024
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