A new UC Santa Barbara study says shark populations are threatened by overfishing. The report highlights the importance of the fish to ecosystems and calls for its protections.
A key finding in the research says that shark populations have gone down by more than 70% in the last 50 years. UCSB Marine Biologist and co-author Jennifer Caselle said overfishing of sharks is a leading cause.
“These animals cannot repopulate fast enough. So many sharks are slow-growing and they don't have very high reproductive rates. And so their populations can't sustain a lot of fishing,” Caselle said.
She said in addition to fishing, climate change and habitat loss are other contributors. But the study also notes sharks are important for keeping prey populations in check and moving nutrients around an ecosystem.
Caselle and her colleagues call for urgent reforms such as new marine sanctuaries and fishing regulations. Their research appears in the journal Science.
