Sushi frenzy a raw deal for sharks

Sharks are being wiped out because of the growing popularity of sushi, research has found.

The apex predators of the oceans are the main bycatch at the heart of tuna and billfish management.

Dr Maria José Juan Jordá, of Simon Fraser University, Canada, said: “While target species such as tunas and billfishes are increasingly managed at sustainable levels, shark species taken as bycatch by the same fisheries continue to decline due to insufficient management actions.”

It shows the urgency of implementing actions to prevent the increasing risk, they added. Half the world’s 31 oceanic shark species are now listed as either endangered or critically endangered. The giant manta ray is also endangered.

The study in the journal Science is based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List Categories and Criteria.