Sharks’ Status in the Mediterranean Sea Urgent Awareness is Needed

Abstract

Cartilaginous fishes are a very ancient group; Sharks have lived on Earth for about 500 million years, since long before the dinosaurs. They have been able to survive and overcome five mass extinctions since their appearance. They play in fact a key role in maintaining the balance of marine ecosystems. More than 97% of the shark population has disappeared in the last two centuries. Currently, a high percentage is threatened, many are data-deficient. Many menaces face sharks, but fishing pressure seems to be most critical. This chapter focuses on the current status of cartilaginous fishes and progress on conservation measures and actions taken mainly through regional plans.

1. Introduction

Sharks, skates, and rays, collectively referred to as elasmobranchs (Class Chondrichthyans), are a very ancient fish group, they have been able to survive and overcome five mass extinctions since their appearance. They play in fact a key role in maintaining the balance of marine ecosystems.

The current chondrichthyans fish fauna of the Mediterranean is relatively diverse, with at least 48 species of sharks, 40 of batoids, and 2 of chimaeras, even if some of them have to be confirmed.

Chondrichthyans grow slowly, mature late, and give generally few babies. Because of these features, they are vulnerable to overexploitation and any anthropogenic disturbance.

More than 97% of the shark population has disappeared in the last two centuries. Currently, a high percentage is threatened, many are data-deficient. Many menaces face sharks, but fishing pressure seems to be most critical.

Several species are currently threatened in the Mediterranean; 53% of 73 species assessed are critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable according to the IUCN Red List. Thirteen percent are data-deficient to be assessed [1].

Following this bad situation of this fish group, many conventions, RFMOs, and NGOs are dealing with the conservation of cartilaginous fish, and national and regional action plans were developed for this issue. This chapter focuses on the current status of cartilaginous fishes in the Mediterranean Sea and progress on conservation measures and actions taken mainly through regional plans.

2. Tools applying for the conservation and management of sharks in the Mediterranean sea

To counteract the high vulnerability of sharks, international legal instruments applying for the conservation and management of sharks were developped to coordinate the management, conservation, exploration, and exploitation of living resources of the riparian countries, with respect to the protection and preservation of the marine environment.

2.1 The Mediterranean action plan (PAM)

On this regard and concerning environemental issue, the Mediterranean Action Plan (PAM), in the context of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), established the “Convention for the protection of the marine environment and the coastal region of the Mediterranean Sea” (Barcelona convention). Among their protocols, the Protocol concerning specially protected areas and biological diversity (SPA/BD) is of utmost importance for the protection of sharks.

2.2 The general fisheries commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM)

In the field of fisheries, management and conservation are implemented within the framework of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM). It is a Regional Fisheries Management Organization whose main objective is the conservation of living marine resources and its sustainable use, as well as the development of aquaculture in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea in a soustainable way to preserve the environment. The Commission adopted binding recommendations for the conservation and the management of fisheries in the region within its scope. In particular, its measures may relate, for example, to the regulation of fishing methods, fishing gear and minimum landing size, the establishment of open and closed fishing seasons and areas, and the control of fishing effort.

The GFCM plays a decisive role in coordinating the efforts of governments to effectively manage fisheries at the regional level, in accordance with the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. The Data Collection Reference Framework (DCRF) for the collection and submission of data relating to fisheries in the GFCM area was endorsed by the SAC (Scientific Advisory Committee) as an instrument to assist Contracting Parties to comply with existing recommendations for the collection and submission of fisheries data to GFCM.

2.3 The International Commission for the conservation of the Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT)

Beside the GFCM, the International Commission for the Conservation of the Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) is dealing with species fished in association with tuna, such as sharks.

2.4 Other conventions

In addition to the GFCM and ICCAT, the convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS), the convention on the conservation of migratory species of wild animals (CMS convention), and the convention on international trade of endangered species (CITES) contain some provisions that are relevant for the sharks issue.

2.5 Action plans for the conservation and management of sharks

Although, non-binding instruments, Action Plans for the conservation and management of sharks, contribute usefully for the protection of these species; at global level, the FAO International Plan of Action (IPOA-Shark) and at regional level, the Action Plan for the conservation of the cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyans) in the Mediterranean, managed by a Secretariat of UNEP Regional Seas.

Recently and with the aim of protecting the three Mediterranean angel sharks, the second most threatened family of sharks in the world and listed in annex II, the Shark Trust and the IUCN Shark Specialist Group (SSG), with regional and international experts developed in 2019 for the Mediterranean Angel Sharks, the Regional Action Plan (RAP).

Taking into accompt recommandations of the International Action Plan (FAO IPOA-Sharks) and the UN Fish Stocks Agreement, the Barcelona Convention, in the frame of the Mediterranean Action Plan, elaborated the Action Plan for the conservation of the cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyans) in the Mediterranean [2].

The Action Plan constitutes a mi-term regional strategy that should be updated each 5 years based on an evaluation of their implementation at regional and national levels. The last update dates back to the year 2020 [3].

The objectives of this update are (1) Assess the implementation of the Action Plan in the Mediterranean sea at regional and national levels and (2) Propose a draft updating for the Action Plan.

2.6 The International union for the conservation of the nature (IUCN)

The International Union for the Conservation of the Nature (IUCN) is recognized at international level to provide scientific advice on the conservation status of living species. Through its “Red List of Threatened Species,” updated as far as it is possible, the species are classified in nine categories, from Extinct (EX) till Not evaluated (NE). Species that can be considered as threatened are those classified as Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), and Vulnerable (VU). Criteria used for this red list are used also when assessing status of species and examining proposals for amending Annexes II and III of the SPA/BD Protocol.

3. Progress on shark conservation: review of the implementation of the shark action plans

This review is based mainly on the report of the implementation of the Action Plan for the conservation of cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyans) in the Mediterranean (2014–2019) in the frame of its update [4]. It deals with international implementation of the IPOA shark and other international tools, SPA/RAC implementation, national implementation (SPA/RAC focal points and experts’ thoughts) and on bibliographic research.

To update the AP, a large consultation with national focal points of SPA/RAC and organims involved in the conservation of sharks at regional level was undertaken via online questionnaire of the Barcelona convention (IG.23/1, CoP20, 2017). The questionnaire was sent by the SPA/RAC to their Focal Points, Convention’s Secretariats, the Action Plan Partners, and some experts.

A bibliographic review was also done to collect information on reaserch progress on the issue and new regulations at regional and national level applicable to sharks conservation. Actions planned for the period 2014–2019 were described and analyzed to understand and to review mainly not achieved and ongoing actions.

The implementation focuses on that of the Action Plan for the conservation of cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyans) in the Mediterranean at national and international level, by SPA/RAC and comments of RFMOs working on shark conservation issues.

Sixteen responses were received; 10 from SPA/RAC focal points and one response from the IUCN. Five responses were received from experts from four countries.

3.1 Sharks landings through Mediterranean sea

Sharks are generally caught incidentally, while are targeted in some marine areas by small scale vessel. They represent about 1.7% of the total Mediterranean halieutic landings (average for the years 2016–2020) [5]. A decline in cartilaginous species landings has been observed while fishing effort has generally increased. According FAO statistics of elasmobranchs, the catches show a decreasing trend from about 20,000 tons in 2009 to about 12,000 tons in 2020 (Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Mediterranean trends of elasmobranchs catches from 2000 to 2020 according to FAO statistics.

During these two decades, the major elasmobranch-fishing countries within the Mediterranean Sea are Libya (since 2009) and Tunisia (Figure 2). Italy and Turkey, known to be the major elasmobranch-fishing countries within the Mediterranean in the 1980s, register a dramatic decrease in catch (Figure 2).

Figure 2.

Contribution of some countries in the Mediterranean elasmobranch production according to FAO statistics from 2000 to 2020.

Statistical information for many priority species of the GFCM area or of the annexes II and III of SPA/RAC is absent as Mobula mobular, Carcharodon carcharias, Gymnura altavella, Raja miraletus… The species of rays and sharks are usually grouped together in the same statistical category and not identified by species.

3.2 Conservation status of cartilaginous fish (Chondrichtyens) in the Mediterranean Sea

Historically, the Mediterranean Sea is a biodiversity hot spot for cartilaginous species. Currently, the region has the highest percentage of endangered sharks in the world. This fish group is in fact vulnerable to overexploitation and any anthropogenic disturbance because of their biological characteristics (very slow growth, late sexual maturity, low fecundity). Several species are now threatened. The main menaces are:

• Fishing pressure and use of nonselective fishing gears;

• Fin trade “fining”;

• pollution and habitats degradation;

• Other uses.

Experts estimated that about 97% of Mediterranean elasmobranchs population, expressed in number and catch weight, was lost during the last 200 years [6].

A significant decline in species richness has been confirmed recently due to increasing of mentioned menaces [1].

According to the last elasmobranchs assessment made by the IUCN [1], there is no sign of improvement in the status of Mediterranean Chondrichthyans; on the contrary, the situation seems to be worsened. The rate of threatened species increases from 42.25 to 53% during decade (2007–2016).

A decrease by 8% of data-deficient species between IUCN assessment of 2007 and that of 2016 shows the increasingly interest of scientists on this issue [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].

3.3 Trainings/multilingual regional and national field identification guides and sheets

In the context of developing training for capacity building at national and regional level, mainly in following topics: taxonomy, biology, and ecology, some trainings and field identification guides were realized:

• The ACCOBAMS-GFCM project on mitigating interactions between endangered marine species and fishing activities (2016–2017) produced a guideline distributed mainly to fishermen and observers titled “Good practice guide for the handling of sharks and skates caught incidentally during pelagic longline fishing.”

• SELPAL and RéPAST projects produced a Responsible Fisherman’s Guide: Best Practices for Reducing the Mortality of Sensitive Species Incidentally Caught by French Pelagic Longliners in the Mediterranean (in French);

• In the frame of bycatch project “Understanding Mediterranean multi-taxa ‘bycatch’ of vulnerable species and testing mitigation- a collaborative approach” (2017–2022), jointly implemented by BirdLife (Project coordinator), GFCM, ACCOBAMS, SPA/RAC, IUCN Med, MEDASSET, and WWF and financed by MAVA foundation, many useful documents were elaborated dealing with collect of data on bycatch, species identification (including sharks), bycatch of sharks:

  • Monitoring the incidental catch of vulnerable species in Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries: Methodology for data collection (http://www.rac-spa.org/sites/default/files/doc_bycatch/ca4991en.pdf)

  • Identification guide of vulnerable species incidentally caught in Mediterranean Fisheries http://www.rac-spa.org/sites/default/files/doc_bycatch/final_identification_guide_20_12.pdf

  • Pocket identification guides of main vulnerable species incidentally caught in fisheries (in each language of countries involved in the project) http://www.rac-spa.org/sites/default/files/doc_bycatch/medbycatch_pocket_guide_tn_en.pdf

  • incidental catch of vulnerable species in Mediterranean and black sea fisheries- a review https://www.fao.org/3/cb5405en/cb5405en.pdf

In the frame of this project, virtual training courses on the identification and handling of vulnerable species incidentally caught during fishing operations were organized.

• The FAO produced in 2018 Two documents’ Species Photographic Plates for sharks and another for skates, rays and chimaeras [8, 9].

• A manual on the identification of elasmobranchs species was produced by the NGO ASCOB-Syrtis, the SPA/RAC and the INSTM for the need of training courses on taxonomy. http://www.rac-spa.org/sites/default/files/doc_sharks/requins_fr_web.pdf

• In the frame of MAVA Species Knowledge Project (2019–2021), coordinated by SPA/RAC in collaboration with ACCOBAMS, BirdLife, MEDDASSET and IUCN, ASCOB-Syrtis executed an action titled: “Status of elasmobranchs, sea turtles and cetaceans in purse seine and surface longline fisheries in the gulf of Hammamet (Tunisia) and produced a manual for mainly identification of sharks and batoids.” https://aquadocs.org/handle/1834/41741

3.4 Submission of catch, bycatch, and discard data to the GFCM

The incidental capture of vulnerable species in fisheries represents a key conservation issue for a number of taxonomic groups (i.e., sea turtles, marine mammals, seabirds, and elasmobranchs). Reliable information and reporting, as well as efficient measures, will allow scientists and decision-makers to obtain a more complete overview of the situation and set priorities for management action.

Several goals were set by the AP on sharks toward reaching more sustainable fisheries in the Mediterranean, notably by decreasing the interaction with shark’s species mainly bycatch. For this, contracting parties to the Barcelona convention were requested to develop program to gather information on the catch rate, the amount of bycatch, marine litter and discard, fishing gears used, and some biologic parameters.

The GFCM recommends mainly to contracting parties, throw GFCM/36/2012/3 recommendation, amended by GFCM/42/2018/2 recommendation:

• To inform on fishing activities (landings, bycatch, release and discard);

• To ban catch of the 24 species of shark listed in annex 11 of the SPA/BD protocol.

Responses were received from nine countries concerning implementation of this action: two responded by yes, three by no, and the action is under development for three while it is not applicable for one country. Even if few responses were received, the implementation seems to be underway with poor progress.

A new analysis of information collected from 2000 to 2020 on incidental catch of sharks [5] DOI: 10.4060/cb2429en reported incidental catch of the main elasmobranch species in the Mediterranean Sea (Figure 3).

Figure 3.

Reported incidental catch of the main elasmobranch species in the Mediterranean Sea, 2000–2020.

Very few species of annexes II and III were reported in this analysis indicating that submission of shark bycatch data to the GFCM is not well implemented.

Longliners and bottom trawlers are by far the vessel groups with the greatest impact on conservation priority elasmobranch species in the whole region. Small-scale vessels and pelagic trawlers generate a minor impact on these vulnerable species. Purse seine seems to have the lowest impact (Figure 4) [5].

Figure 4.

Bycatch of elasmobranchs reported by vessel group in the GFCM area (2000–2020) [5].

3.5 Legal processes

3.5.1 Species protection

Management of elasmobranchs has been widely emphasized over the past 23 years in a precautionary way. Since 1999, the international action plan of the FAO has undertaken various conservative actions to improve exploitation management of this fish group. In the period of 2010–2011, the GFCM adopted ad hoc mitigation measures concerning bycatch of some pelagic sharks such as thresher sharks, shortfin mako sharks, and hammerhead sharks. Then in 2012, the GFCM banned finning practices and capture of threatned sharks and rays of the Appendix II of the prtocol on Special Protected Areas and Biodiversity of the Barcelona Convention.

Species protection is a major objective of the Action Plan. The urgent provision of legal protection status for endangered species is listed as the first priority; CPs were asked to establish strict legal protection for species listed in Annex II and GFCM Recommendation through national laws and regulations as soon as possible.

Although 80% of CPs who responded to the questionnaire reported that they had protected species or had measures under development, implementation has been incomplete, with 10% of CPs reporting no action. All the Annex II species have been included in legislation of three countries. Some countries protect a smaller number of Annex II species.

Overall, the level of protection granted to the chondrichthyan fish species listed in Annex II of the Protocol continues to be disappointingly incomplete.

3.5.2 Finning prohibition

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) and the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) recommend respectively in 2004 and 2005 full utilization of these animals and that landed fins do not exceed 5% of the sharks caught (in weight).

Later, in 2012, The GFCM banned finning practices following recommendation GFCM/36/2012/3 concerning conservation of elasmobranchs in the GFCM area.

This former recommendation was later, in 2018, amended by Recommendation GFCM/42/2018/2 mandating that sharks must be landed with their fins attached to the body. This measure reinforces the ban of “finning” consisting on cutting of fins and discarding the body.

Following responses to the questionnaire, only 50% of the parties to the GFCM Support finning prohibition by enacting national regulations and monitoring their implementation and enforcement and 10% (one CP) have a project on this matter under development.

Three parties run into difficulties to implement this action due regulation, administrative and technical matters.

3.5.3 Protection of critical habitats for chondrichthyans

The inquiry shows a poor protection of critical habitats for elasmobranchs in the Mediterranean. An indirect protection appears may be through the recommendation GFCM/42/2018/2 of the GFCM dealing with the reduction of the fishing effort of trawlers in coastal areas aiming protection of coastal elasmobranchs.

3.6 Studying programs

3.6.1 Scientific publishing effort

The parties to the Barcelona convention, having adopted the action plan on cartilaginous fish, were asked to undertake continuously monitoring programs to elucidate mainly the status of Mediterranean endemics and Data-Deficient or Near-Threatened species. To have an idea on the implementation of this recommendation, we undertake a review and an analysis of the bibliography on this matter during the last decade.

Three hundred papers on elasmobranchs appeared in 2012–July 2022 period in Mediterranean Sea with an average of about 30 papers/year. They cover different areas and many topics. The most papers came from the Eastern Mediterranean followed by the central Mediterranean Sea (Figure 5).

Figure 5.

Geographic distribution of elasmobranchs paper in the Mediterranean Sea between 2012 and 2020.

The analysis shows also that the main topics of papers concern biology, ecology, and fisheries (Figure 6). Few papers were published on stock assessment. Studies on shark systematic and genetics increased a lot compared with last decades before 2012. This interest is mainly due to the known identification problems in elasmobranchs. The increase of papers on fisheries and mainly bycatch seems to be related to the implementation of programs on this topic to reduce this phenomenon. Studies concerning this topic, ranked second, represent about 25% of the available papers.

Figure 6.

Distribution of elasmobranchs paper by topic in the Mediterranean Sea between 2012 and 2020.

3.6.2 The Mediterranean large elasmobranchs monitoring

The MEDLEM program was launched in 1985 [10] and adopted by FAO-GFCM and UNEP-RAC/SPA respectively in 2005 and 2009. The “Shark Specialist Group” of the International Union of the Conservation of the Nature and the “European Elasmobranchs Association” are partners [11]. The main goal of the program is to evaluate the elasmobranchs bycatch recording the incidental catches, sightings, stranding, and historical bibliographic references.

Twenty different countries participate in the MedLem program and promote input and shared access to the database under the appropriate protocol. Records are clearly increasing (Figure 7).

Figure 7.

Number of records of the main species registered between 1990 and 2017.

The MEDLEM database could be a useful tool for organizations involved at national and international level to manage conservation of elasmobranchs and Mediterranean biodiversity.

Observation effort is more important in in the northern sectors than in the south-eastern ones. No records of some species in one of these regions does not mean their absence (Figure 8).

Figure 8.

Spatial distribution of all MEDLEM records [12].

Actually, the database is hosted by the GFCM server and continues to be enriched. To contribute more on the conservation efforts, the database should be open to all elasmobranch’s species and not only large ones.

3.6.3 Critical habitats for chondrichthyans

Critical habitats should be identified for conservation purposes. In fact, a big lack of knowledge on critical habitats for this group was noted in the Mediterranean [13]. However, some studies confirm the presence of nursery and spawning areas for some species such as in the Gulf of Gabes (GSA 14) in Tunisia. These critical habitats concern mainly the sandbar shark, smooth hounds, and guitarfishes [14, 15, 16, 17]. The Tunisian waters provide also a nursery area for the white shark Carcharodon carcharias (center of Tunisia) [13]. Since the Gulf of Gabès is an important fishery area in Tunisia and in the aim to have valuable knowledge on this kind of area, many biologic parameters should be determined. It should also be noted that aggregations of basking shark have been reported in the Balearic area, the Adriatic, and the Tyrrhenian Sea [18].

Considering the utility of this kind of habitats for conservation purposes, the AP on cartilaginous required parties to proceed with inventorying and mapping such habitats and to ensure their legal protection.

Among 10 responses received on this matter, two parties (20%) inventoried critical habitats, but they are not yet under protection such as nursery areas in the Gulf of Gabes. More work is needed to delimit such nurseries. Three CPs (30%) did not do so, for four countries (40%), investigations are under development, and for one CP (10%), the action is not applicable.

3.6.4 Data collection programs

From 2010 to 2013, the GFCM undertook a research program to evaluate the status of elasmobranchs and to propose measures reducing populations decline. Then, other programs were launched. The following programs should be mentioned:

3.6.4.1 ACCOBAMS-GFCM project (2015–2016)

This project dealing with bycatch evaluation and mitigation measures, aimed to enhance the conservation of endangered marine species, such as cetaceans, sea turtles, elasmobranches, and seabirds, and to promote responsible fishing practices in the Mediterranean through six pilot actions in France, Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia.

For Tunisia, the project was developed in Zarzis (in the Gulf of Gabes) and focusing on longline fishery, including some experiments with circle hooks and change of baits. Below, the link for the final report: https://www.accobams.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/07-Tunisie-INSTM-Rapp-final_palangres-Zarzis.pdf

3.6.4.2 MedBycatch project

A bycatch project “Understanding Mediterranean multi-taxa ‘bycatch’ of vulnerable species and testing mitigation – a collaborative approach” (September 2017–October 2022), implemented by Birdlife International (as coordinator), SPA/RAC, GFCM, ACCOBAMS, MEDASSET, and IUCN-Med and financially supported by the MAVA Foundation in five countries (Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Italy, and Croatia) is interested, among other taxa, in cartilaginous fishes.

The project focused on five taxa among them elasmobranchs and five fishing gears: trammel nets, gillnets, bottom trawlers, bottom longline, and purse seine, in more than 45 ports. More than 50 observers were involved, and more than 1500 observations were done.

In Tunisia (GSAs 12, 13 and 14), observation effort deployed in phase 2 (2020–2022) was recorded in Table 1. Data analysis shows that elasmobranchs are the taxa the most incidentally caught (Figure 9) [18].

Fishing gears	Onboard observations	Questionnaires	Self-sampling
OTB	214	257
SSV	632	1005	27
Purseseiners	38	127	1

Table 1.

Observation effort.

Figure 9.

Total number (%) of bycaught individuals in Tunisia.

3.6.4.3 MEDITS project (Mediterranean International Trawl survey)

The MEDITS survey program (International bottom trawl survey in the Mediterranean) intends to produce basic information on benthic and demersal species in terms of population distribution as well as demographic structure, on the continental shelves, and along the upper slopes at a global scale in the Mediterranean Sea, through systematic bottom trawl surveys.

The program aims at conducting coordinated surveys from bottom trawling in the Mediterranean Sea. The surveys intend to include as much as possible all the trawlable areas over the shelves and the upper slopes from 10 to 800 m depth off the coasts of the partner countries. Since 2002, the MEDITS survey is included in the European regulation related to the collection of fishery data.

This survey continues to collect data on many taxa among them cartilaginous fishes. This program needs to be extended to the North African and Levantine countries.

3.6.4.4 MAVA species knowledge project (2019–2021)

The Project aims to improve knowledge on species and habitats affected by unsustainable fishing practices through nine small Projects covering all megafauna species executed by NGOs (elasmobranchs, sea turtles, birds, and cetaceans). Among them two in the Strait of Sicily-Tunisia subregion. Figure 10 gives a picture of the density map of elasmobranchs in Sicily Canal and Tunisian plateau.

Figure 10.

Catch per fishing day of elasmobranchs per 10 km by 10 km raster (Strait of Sicily and Tunisian plateau).

3.6.5 Data submission to FAO and GFCM

3.6.5.1 Data on pelagic shark catches

Pelagic sharks are protected mainly under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and ICCAT recommendations. The inquiry, carried out for the period 2014–2019, shows that few data on this shark group were submitted to the FAO and the GFCM; one country among eight did so.

3.6.5.2 Collection and submission data from coastal fisheries

Few countries (four from nine) contributed to such programs for the period 2014–2019.

3.6.6 Capacity building

GFCM, some FAO project, and other organizations (ACCOBAMS, SPA/RAC …) support expert participation in RFMO and other relevant meetings, training courses, and workshops, to share expertise and build capacity for data collection, stock assessment, and bycatch mitigation. This action seems to be well implemented and should be more improved by supporting experts and students to participate mainly to specific training courses on species identification, data collection, and data analysis.

3.7 Management and assessment procedures

3.7.1 National shark plans

The Mediterranean Action plan recommends to contracting parties the elaboration of national action Plans. The role of SPA/RAC is fundamental for constantly updating the MAP and for stimulating Mediterranean countries to produce their own National Plans.

Until 2021, only countries elaborated National Action Plan for the conservation of sharks. Three Mediterranean.

4. Proposals of priorities to enhance implementation of action plans on shark conservation

This review shows that regional action plans and recommendations of regional conventions and RFMOs seem to be poorly implemented. Since the future of marine biodiversity in the Mediterranean and of sustainable fishery depends a lot on elasmobranchs, more successful conservation of this fish group should be ensured, and urgent awareness is needed focusing mainly on the following priorities:

• Increase training and awareness of fishermen and controllers of fisheries on protected species and develop an effective control of fisheries.

• Improve shark conservation in multi-taxa approach, mainly for:

  • Bycatch reducing mainly through species release;

  • Mapping and monitoring of critical habitats.

• Improve data collection at sea and at land for a global map of species distribution using data obtained in all regional projects;

• Improve collect of elasmobranches landing statistics;

• Strongly ban fishing and landing of vulnerable species (listed in annex II). The GFCM binding recommendation on this issue should be applied since legislative process is long at national level;

• Develop national red lists for elasmobranches

• Improve studies on stock assessment, in fact, analysis of action plans implementation on this issue shows many gaps. To develop this research field, experts should focus on (1) some biologic parameters, (2) knowledge on fisheries, (3) valuable and available statistics, (4) taxonomy and shared stocks, (5) studies on migration and exchange between populations, and (6) choosing better evaluation methods.