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Globally, the market demand for fins, uncontrolled bycatch, and illegal fishing are all contributing to the sharp decline in shark and ray populations. Within two decades (2002–2021), ASEAN countries provided 19.4% of 15.06 million tons (2.9 million tons) of elasmobranch species landings, with Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand dominating. Moreover, ASEAN product variety, taxonomic uncertainty, and trade complexity make endangered species trade control challenging. The existence of legally protected and endangered elasmobranch species in the Asian market has been the subject of multiple investigations, which has brought attention to the inadequacies of present management and conservation strategies. The development of DNA-based methods for identifying elasmobranchs and present new approaches to combat the problem of illegal shark and ray fin trafficking, such as high-throughput sequencing (HTS) as an alternative to conventional DNA barcoding. Enhancing trade monitoring could provide persistent benefits for shark and ray resources in Southeast Asian ecosystems and populations, while also promoting a legal, sustainable, and traceable trade.

The development of innovative technologies plays a vital role in improving the preservation and accessibility of naturalistic museum collections. These approaches also contribute to developing significant comprehensive information archives, particularly concerning endangered animal taxa, including shark and ray populations. Within this particular context, museomics can be seen as a burgeoning field of study that offers a fresh and innovative approach to the enrichment and utilization of these resources. Museomics examines genomic data from museum collections of ancient (aDNA) and historic (hDNA) DNA, including shark and ray specimens. This research aims to examine the potency of museomics in the harvesting management and conservation insights of elasmobranchs. Pre-treatment of specimens, unique DNA extraction techniques, and PCR optimization were discussed systematically. This study offers helpful information for restoring and improving the appearance of a museum specimen, which provides significant prospects for preserving biodiversity and pushing specific conservation policies for the shark and ray populations.