The Republic of the Congo is a hotspot for sharks and rays. However, scientists didn’t know how many of these species congregate along the coast until they asked the artisanal…
JAKARTA — In early September, a whale shark washed up on a beach in the Indonesian province of West Java. Within hours, locals had chopped up the 7-meter (23-foot) fish…
LAMONGAN, Indonesia — The Brondong Fisheries Port in Indonesia’s East Java province was busy on a Friday morning in February as workers worked as swiftly as possible to unload the…
July 14 is Shark Awareness Day, an annual reminder to raise awareness of these incredible creatures that roam the oceans. Sharks and rays belong to a group of fish known…
In recent decades, plastic pollution has become a key environmental issue. An estimated 8 million metric tons of plastic waste enter the ocean each year, equivalent to a truckload of…
New research has found that five key shark species found in reef habitats are at higher risk of extinction than previously thought, mainly due to overfishing. Published in Science, the…
A new report has highlighted the maritime border zone between Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines as a hotbed for the illegal wildlife trade, and called for urgent intergovernmental action to…
At first glance, the device resembles an egg-shaped game. But the birth-alert-tag is anything but a toy. Inside, it holds technology that collects data aimed at informing conservation strategies for…
For half a century, industrial tuna fishing vessels have borne scrutiny for catching animals they haven’t meant to: “bycatch,” in fisheries lingo. Purse seiner vessels, which provide most of the…
More than a third of all elasmobranch (shark and ray) species are at risk of extinction due to overfishing. Indonesia is both a hotspot of elasmobranch biodiversity and one of…
New research has found that carefully managed fisheries can help dwindling shark and ray populations recover, illustrating a pathway for protecting species from fishing pressure. Published in the Proceedings of…
More than half of known species of coral reef sharks and rays are threatened with extinction, according to new research that underscores the urgent need for improved regional fisheries and…
At CITES CoP19, also known as the World Wildlife Conference, 54 requiem shark species, including tiger and bull sharks, six hammerhead shark species and 37 species of guitarfish were added…
Ocean-dwelling sharks and rays, including the majestic reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi), have declined globally by an estimated 71% since 1970 due to fishing. But a new study of reef…
The United States Senate recently passed legislation that will ban the shark fin trade, a largely unregulated industry impacting millions of sharks, within the U.S. On Dec. 15, policymakers approved…
DA NANG, Vietnam — Industrial-scale fishers will no longer be able to use two types of shark-fishing gear in the western and central Pacific Ocean after the international body in…
Amid a global biodiversity crisis, nations have agreed to protect threatened species like sharks, songbirds, glass frogs and tropical timber by regulating their trade. Over the past two weeks, member…
Nations are proposing to protect dozens of shark and ray species in danger of extinction by regulating their international trade. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild…
Everything about the Greenland shark seems to be slow: these long-bodied animals swim slowly, grow slowly and reach maturity slowly. Their maturity rate is so sluggish, in fact, that scientists…
In 2018, marine scientist Joni Pini-Fitzsimmons received an unusual stingray video from a colleague. It showed a mangrove whipray (Urogymnus granulatus) gliding over a reef in the Gili Islands of…
In late March and early April this year, researchers from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands teamed up with fishers, conservationists and scientists in Guinea-Bissau to catch, study, sample…
Shark meat from vulnerable species is being processed into cat food for major brands, according to a new study. Researchers from the National University of Singapore used DNA barcoding technology…
When marine ecologist Katie Flowers first started conducting research at Glovers Reef Marine Reserve, a marine protected area (MPA) in Belize, she found a thriving population of Caribbean reef sharks.…
"Ecuador is proud to announce the creation of the Hermandad Marine Reserve in the coming days," the country's president declares in an opinion piece shared with Mongabay. His country had…
More than 50 countries have agreed to protect shortfin mako sharks, an endangered species that has been teetering on the brink of extinction due to fishing overexploitation. The decision has…
As a fisheries biologist in Indonesia, Andhika Prasetyo connects with fishers by accompanying them on their voyages out to sea. He can always tell from their faces whether the day’s…
JAKARTA — Conservation authorities in Indonesia have condemned a recent incident in which a beached whale shark was cut up and reportedly consumed by locals on the western coast of…
BOGOR, Indonesia — The population of the nearly extinct bowmouth guitarfish in Indonesia is being depleted by overfishing, according to a recent study that calls for a reduction in its…
An assessment in 2019 by shark experts identified the little-known family of wedgefishes as among the most threatened marine fish families worldwide. This prompted researchers to roll out a first-of-its-kind…
Manta rays tend not to swim alone. Not only do they socialize with their own kind, but they’re also accompanied by a range of different species — from sharksuckers to…
