Study reveals that Macaronesia and Cape Verde are high priority areas for shark conservation in the North Atlantic
MARE researchers Rui Rosa, Jaquelino Varela, Catarina Pereira Santos, Emanuel Nunes, Vasco Pissarra and Tiago Repolho are co-authors of the article “Sharks in Macaronesia and Cape Verde: species richness, conservation status and anthropogenic pressures”.
The study, published last week, reveals that 78 species of sharks occur in Macaronesia and Cape Verde, and that within this region, the Canary Islands have the highest specific richness (56 species), followed by Cape Verde (53 species), Madeira (52 species) and the Azores (45 species). From a conservation point of view, the study reveals that Cape Verde is facing a greater magnitude and diversity of threats, with 66% of species in imminent danger of extinction. Fishing, climate change and habitat degradation are the main threats. The researchers draw attention to the little protection that the current legal framework and ocean governance offer sharks in the archipelago. For example, in terms of marine protected areas, Cape Verde has less than 1% of its Exclusive Economic Zone protected, leaving out critical areas for shark conservation.
“This study provides valuable data and reinforces the urgent need for more studies and greater protection of sharks in Cape Verdean waters.” (Says Cape Verdean biologist Jaquelino Varela, a doctoral student at MARE)
The work identified the 10 priority species for conservation for each archipelago and found that the first 6 are the same and are pelagic sharks. This result supports the previously proposed idea of declaring a migratory corridor in the region that would guarantee some form of protection for these species.
"An interesting finding of this work is that the comparison of shark species between the archipelagos studied points to the exclusion of Cape Verde from the Macaronesian biogeographical region. Another curious scientific finding is that no oviparous species are found in Cape Verde, while 6 are found in the other archipelagos" (adds Jaquelino Varela).
The study was carried out by Cape Verdean and Portuguese researchers (University of Lisbon, MARE/ARNET, Associação Sphyrna, Inspeção Geral das Pescas, Associação Biosfera, Universidade Técnica do Atlântico and Universidade do Porto) as part of the NGANDU research project, led by researcher Rui Rosa, funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology and the Aga Khan Development Network (FCT AGA-KHAN/541746579/2019). The work has been published in the international scientific journal Frontiers in Marine Science and can be consulted in full HERE
Text obtained by Press Release
Photo by Associação Shpyrna