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Dead hammerhead shark in a ghost net off the Galapagos Islands
Photo: Norbert Probst / imagebroker / imago images
According to scientists, the number of sharks and rays in the world's oceans has fallen by more than 70 percent in the past 50 years.
More than three quarters of all species of sharks and rays living in the sea are endangered, according to researchers led by Nathan Pacoureau from Simon Fraser University in the Canadian journal "Nature".
Three shark species are even in acute danger of extinction:
The whitetip deep sea shark
The bow-forehead hammerhead
The great hammerhead shark
The main reason for this is overfishing.
In fact, many species of sharks and rays are prohibited from fishing.
But sharks in particular continue to be hunted for their fins.
According to the environmental protection organization WWF, sharks and rays caught are also illegally offered for sale in Europe.
The organization also warns against fraudulent labeling: In the Mediterranean region, for example, shark meat from illegal catches is sometimes offered as swordfish.
Many animals also perish as bycatch or in lost ghost nets.
According to the current study, the number of sharks and rays caught by fishermen has increased 18-fold since 1970 compared to the total population of these animals.
Rays and sharks are also threatened in the North and Baltic Seas
According to the authors, it is the first global analysis of its kind.
Scientist Pacoureau and his colleagues worked, among other things, with numerous regional data and, based on this, estimated the development of the populations of 18 shark and ray species between 1970 and 2018.
Governments around the world urgently need to act to prevent extinction, the scientists urge.
Catch caps for fish could help the stocks recover.
Currently, a third of the shark and ray species are considered critically endangered.
The stocks in the Baltic and North Sea are also at risk.
Dog sharks, thorns, star rays, stingrays and common skates live there.
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koe / dpa