‘Shark headcount down by 85% in Pakistan over past 50 years’

Scientists attribute decrease in population primarily to overfishing

KARACHI:

A decline of more than 85 per cent has been reported in Pakistan's shark resources over the past 50 years, according to an analysis, titled 'Half a Century of Global Decline in Oceanic Sharks and Rays', published in a scientific journal, Nature.

The study concludes that the shark population across the world has reduced by 71 per cent since 1970, with shark and ray populations continuing to undergo a staggering decline globally.

Top 20 shark scientists, who contributed to the article, have attributed the decline, primarily, to overfishing.

The scientists have extrapolated that of 31 species of sharks and rays examined during the analysis, 21 are currently facing the risk of extinction, as around 100 million sharks are caught each year.

According to the article, the number of fishing fleets engaged in catching sharks for their meat and fins have tripled over the past 50 years.

Besides, the World Wildlife Fund-Pakistan (WWF-P) has observed a decline of 85 per cent in shark landings in Pakistan over the past 50 years, which is more than the average global decline. In the case of ray landings, a decrease of 75 per cent has been reported.

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Once Pakistan had shark fisheries in abundance, but shark production declined substantially during the 1990s, when dedicated shark fisheries using bottom-set longlines and gillnets were introduced in the country. Eventually, two of the main shark fishing centres here, Ormara and Jiwani, were closed in 2004.

In this regard, WWF global shark leader Andy Cornish says, "Many shark species in the Indian Ocean are in danger due to the improper management of fisheries. This challenge is further exacerbated by the absence of credible data on the catches of several species of shark, including but not limited to highly exploited species."

WWF-P technical adviser (marine fisheries) Moazzam Khan stresses the need to curb shark fishing so that its overexploitation can be avoided.

Two species of sharks, Pondicherry shark and tentacled butterfly ray, which were quite common in Pakistan, are now being considered to be categorised under the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, he points out.

In order to control shark fishing, both, the Sindh government and Balochistan government, had enacted legislations in 2016.

Appreciating this step, WWF-P programmes senior director Rab Nawaz says that more efforts need to be made for the conservation and management of shark resources, such as declaring important shark hotspots marine protected areas, expanding research on sharks, banning the harvest of endangered shark species and restricting the import and export of shark fins.