Stingray caught by fishermen belongs to ‘vulnerable’ species
A HUGE stingray caught by two fishermen recently off the coast of Yedidalga belongs to a vulnerable species, a wildlife expert has pointed out.
Marine biologist Robin Snape identified the 220kilo creature, caught by father and son Ömer and Evren Balıkçı and featured in Cyprus Today and other news outlets, as a roughtail stingray (Bathytoshia centroura), which is classed as “vulnerable” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) “Red List”.
Dr Snape said the species is of “global conservation concern” and that “their killing and consumption should be discouraged”.
He said that roughtail stingrays are “generally long-lived and have relatively low breeding output, so when adults are taken like this in fisheries, their populations can (and have) decline dramatically”.
“There is a lack of awareness of the important regulatory role that elasmobranch species have in marine ecosystems,” Dr Snape stated.
“Despite the very few incidents of shark attacks or stingray attacks on humans, it is often this threatening aspect of them which dominates the headlines, leading to them being villainised and not appreciated for their important roles in providing ecosystem services which actually benefit fisheries and livelihoods of fishers in the long term.
“Meanwhile consumption and trade of species that are considered ‘cute’, such as sea turtles and dolphins, would be met with outrage in the press.
“To put this in context, Mediterranean loggerhead turtles are no longer on the IUCN red list, and have a more secure population and future than the specimen hauled by the Balıkçı fishers.”
He said that the North Cyprus Society for the Protection of Turtles (Spot) has a team of “onboard observers working with fishers since 2018 to understand this bycatch” and that “we estimate that 35,000 sharks and rays are taken each year”.
“We are working with the fishers to improve their handling techniques, to promote releasing of such specimens where possible and to ensure that the best practices are followed, especially concerning the more rare and endangered species,” Dr Snape added.