IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group
Overview and description
- Description:
-
An estimated 37% of sharks, rays, and chimaeras are threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Our mission is to secure the conservation, management and, where ...
Group leadership
Dr Rima JABADO
Commission Deputy Chair
Dr Brit FINUCCI
More about the Specialist Group
The IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group (SSG) was established by the Species Survival Commission in 1991 in response to growing awareness and concern about the severe impact of fisheries on shark, ray, and chimaera (hereafter ‘sharks’) populations around the world. The SSG is now recognised as the leading authority on the status of these species and has recently finished assessing the status of all known species. Central to this process has been the knowledge and ...
The SSG focuses on assessing the extinction risk of species, developing conservation strategies and action plans for the most threatened species, and delineating Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs). These priorities ensure we understand the status of species, inform policy, and identify research gaps.
Specialist Group work
Delineate Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs)
Implement a systematic place-based approach to throughout ranges of sharks, rays, and chimaeras.
Conservation Planning for Threatened Species
Collect information to lead to responsible management, policy development, and research priorities.
SSG on the IUCN Red List
The SSG is the global Red List Authority for sharks, rays, and chimaeras.
SSG Annual Reports
Learn about SSG’s work and results in 2023.
Previous reports:
2022 SSG Annual Report
2021 SSG Annual Report
2020 SSG Annual Report
2018 SSG Annual Report
2016-2017 SSG Annual Report
Projects of the Specialist Group
The SSG works on a number of global and regional programs to achieve its vision of ‘a world where sharks, rays, and chimaeras are valued and managed sustainably.’
- Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs): The aim of the ISRA project is to mobilise scientists and conservationists to ensure the ranges of all known shark, ray, and chimaera species are globally investigated, so that ISRAs are identified within such ranges and mapped, and to provide decision-makers and other relevant stakeholders with actionable knowledge necessary for the implementation of adequate systematic place-based conservation.
- Global Status Report for sharks, rays, and chimaeras: The project will consolidate all available information on sharks, rays, and chimaeras to identify areas of scientific knowledge and policy needed to ensure shark’s long-term conservation and management. This will be an update to the existing publication by Fowler et al. (2005) on sharks’ global status and will form the basis of a comprehensive resource documenting progress in data collection, fisheries management, as well as changes in the characteristics of the products, trade, and economics of exploitation.