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1 Newsletter of the IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group #5 | April 20222 Our Vision A world where sharks, rays, and chimaeras are valued and managed sustainably. Our Mission To secure the conservation, management and, where necessary, the recovery of the world’s sharks, rays, and chimaeras by mobilizing tech- nical and scientific expertise to provide the knowledge that enables action. Photo by Michael Scholl | Save Our Seas FoundationFront cover: Caribbean Manta Ray (Mobula cf. birostris) and West Atlantic Pygmy Devil Ray (Mobula hypostoma) around Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico Back cover: Reef Manta Ray (Mobula alfredi) in Hanifaru Bay, Baa Atoll, Maldives Content page: Mass Cyclone Feeding Event of Reef Manta Rays (Mobula alfredi) in Hanifaru Bay, Baa Atoll, Maldives Photos by Guy Stevens | Manta Trust 3 4 Editorial: A note from the Chair 6 Q&A with Michelle Heupel: Making waves in a sea of data 9 Sharks and the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) 18 Shark Spotlight: Mumburarr Whipray 20 Update from the 24th EEA Conference in Leiden, The Netherlands 22 Sharks International 2022: A Mediterran- ean shark fiesta you do not want to miss! 23 Prioritising conser- vation efforts for the Critically Endange- red Angel Sharks in the North-eastern Mediterranean Sea 25 The worldwide distribution of the Bull Shark and an account of its occurrence in low salinity habitats 29 Uncovering the global shark meat trade 35 Creating the Next Generation of Shark Advocates 43 Safe Space for Sharks: Important Shark & Ray Areas (ISRAs) 54 A refuge amidst peril: Giant Guitarfish in the Andaman Islands, India 57 Angling for Shark Science: Anglers & Scientists, Together as Equals 59 Unmanaged Trade Jeopardizes Freshwater Sting- rays Management and Conservation 61 Conscientizing preschool kids on how to know, respect and protect sharks and their relatives in extreme Southern Brazil 66 Assess Working Group Update: Upcoming IUCN Red List assessments 67 New Tools to Curtail the Illegal Shark Trade 73 Supply and demand: the EU’s role in the global shark trade 78 Upcoming Meetings 79 Funding Opportunities 81 Our Sponsors Photo by Michael Scholl | Save Our Seas Foundation Editor-in-chief Michael Scholl Chief Editor Rima Jabado Associate Editor Alexandra Morata Contributing Editor Chelsea Stein Proofreader Michael Scholl Rima Jabado Alexandra Morata Design & art direction Peter Scholl scholldesign.com Published by the IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group (SSG) Dr. Rima W. Jabado P.O. Box 29588 | Dubai United Arab EmiratesDear readers, With the next Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) Conference of Parties around the corner, it is perhaps not surprising that this issue has several stories related to the trade in shark products and implementation. First, a team from Dalhousie University introduces us to a global project being undertaken to un- cover the trade in shark meat, a trade that is increasing and yet for which we have little in- formation on species and quantities. We share the news of the publication of a three-volume guide series on CITES-listed species that Debra Abercrombie and myself worked on over the last few years to support the implementation of trade controls and which will allow the iden- tification of whole sharks, trunks, and dried products (fins, rostra, and gill plates). We have a note to emphasize the detrimental impact of trade on South American Freshwater Stingrays and highlight how CITES can ensure this trade can be regulated. And we have results from a new study showcasing trade data which indicates that European Union Member States pro- vide almost a third of shark-related fin imports into Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. There have also been announcements for new listing proposals for sharks on CITES, so watch this space as things unfold over the next few months. Our feature story is about Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA), a project we have recently embarked on that I am convinced will make a difference for shark conservation. Over the last four months, a team from within the SSG, IUCN Ocean Team, and IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force has been busy developing this concept. This first story gives you an idea of what we are working on but stay tuned! There are lots more to come on this very soon as we finalize the ISRA selection crite- ria and decide on our first region of work. The importance of delineating such critical habitat for sharks and their contribution to species conservation is highlighted in a story on Angel Sharks in the Mediterranean and echoes the feedback we have received about this initiative. We need to identify areas important for the survival of species so that decisions makers can make informed decisions when designing and implementing marine protected areas. Some of these ISRAs might be sites like those discovered for the Giant Guitarfish (Glaucostegus ty- pus) in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India – areas that Critically Endangered species use as nursery areas and that are critical for the survival of the species. Other stories show how consolidating available data can further our knowledge of species distribution of Bull Sharks and how engaging with recreational anglers, although an activity that might seem controversial for many, can be a valuable source of data and contribute to supporting fisheries management decisions. We highlight more work by dedicated and inspiring edu- cators working hard in The Bahamas and Brazil to ensure the next generation cares about the marine environment and can become advocates for sharks. In The Bahamas, they are fortunate to work with children who regularly see sharks in their backyard and have had this wonderful experience so early in their lives. In Brazil, educators have to be very creative in their initiatives working with museum specimens, artists, and increasingly used cards were published online weekly even during the pandemic to make sure they can reach students without in-person activities. Our regular contributor Chelsea Stein has yet again done an incredible job with her Q&A piece. She interviewed Dr Michelle Heupel, who pioneered the work on shark movement ecology. She provides us with an insight into how she got start- ed and how her research has had a broader impact across the field of shark and fisheries management. Michelle also spearheaded the first global shark conference – now the only global shark science meeting taking place every four years: Sharks International. The 2022 edition of this conference is fast approaching, and the organizers have provided additional details on the event. With an update on the last meeting of the European Elasmobranch As- sociation, we also learn that this year’s meeting will be combined with Sharks International in November in Valencia, Spain. Finally, this issue also contains several announcements for grants and funding opportunities that might be of particular importance to our members and others working on sharks worldwide. Again, thank you to all our contributors. It’s so great to see members of the SSG and non-members now using Shark News as a platform to share their work. Thank you to Michael and Peter Scholl, who once again produced a beautiful issue we can all be proud of. Rima A note from the Chair Rima Jabado Artwork by Keith Witmer 45 Photo by Umeed Mistry | Ocean Image Bank6 Michelle Heupel has spearheaded new ways to interpret, integrate, and use data to protect sharks throughout her career. Making waves in a sea of data Written by Chelsea Stein All photos provided by Michelle Heupel7 From business to biology, researchers ask questions, discover new things, and inform the world we all share. When it comes to sharks, scientists and conservationists gather copious amounts of data to better understand the lives and behaviors of hundreds of species. The answers they find are ultimately used to inform policy and management deci- sion-making, helping to protect sharks and other ocean life long-term. “For me, that is what is really exciting about science. When you study an animal that isn’t well studied or find something unexpected, that is the real spark,” Michelle Heupel said. “Those new things help solve a problem and help create a difference, or even just help us understand better.” Michelle is a research scientist dedicated to making the world better for sharks. She studied marine predator movement around the world for over 25 years. She now serves as the Director of Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), based at the University of Tasmania. Through it all, Michelle has made waves by spearheading new ways to interpret, integrate and use data to understand shark behavior and inform conservation strategies. Floating a new idea Doing things differently is not something that intimidates Michelle. At the age of 14, she declared she wanted to be a marine biologist and zoned in on sharks, despite naysayers telling her she would not be able to do it. Fast forward through a bachelor’s in zoology and a PhD in marine sciences; Michelle was studying shark tracking at the Mote Marine Lab- oratory and Aquarium when an idea came to her that would pioneer how sharks are studied today. “When I started shark tracking in Florida, 20 something years ago, I took existing technology and used it in a way that no one had before,” she said. “And it was totally a gamble.” In the 1990s, new data-logging tracking technology allowed people to put a transmitter in a shark that would send a signal to an acoustic receiver when the animal swam past it. The receivers were designed to be used independently and were not programmed to communicate with one another, so they were typically scattered in different areas, failing to paint a complete picture of where sharks were moving. Michelle’s idea? To use the receivers in a coastal area in an overlap- ping grid array so that the sharks – specifically, juvenile blacktips (Carcharhinus limbatus) – could be tracked continuously by the re- ceivers. When the tracking equipment manufacturers told her the idea would not work because of the equipment’s design, she followed her intuition and tried it anyway. She wound up paving the way for the future of shark tracking. “We wanted to look at how these sharks use coastal nursery areas,” she said. “How long do they stay? How important are those habitats? Where do they roam?” Today, deploying acoustic tracking equipment in a grid or overlapping array is standard practice worldwide. “The crazy idea I had actually changed how we track where fish go and how they use space.” Movement informs management From there, Michelle continued to answer a range of research ques- tions, related to shark movement. She said understanding movement can help people and decision-makers see what it might mean for populations if a particular habitat is destroyed or what could happen if management policies change. “Knowing where sharks spend time and how they use their space is a key element to understanding how environmental changes will impact the population,” she said. Whether she’s looking at how Bull Sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) use rivers or uncovering where juvenile sharks move during a tropical storm, Michelle continues to embrace new approaches to working with data to protect sharks. “We used to get detailed tracks of animals only over a day or a few days, and now we are tracking animals for much longer, which lets us see what they do for years of their life and ultimately lets us ask differ- ent questions.” Some of her work involved creating 3D home ranges of sharks, in- corporating elements like the shape of a reef, the water depth, where a shark is within the water column, and where it is in relation to another species or animal – all based on previously collected data. “We started by looking at a data set on eels in a fjord in Norway. When you track animals, you often get a bird’s eye view, but we know that ani- mals aren’t moving in two dimensions,” she said. “So, in this case, there were eels that looked like they had overlapping home ranges, and it was assumed that they were sharing space. But when we integrated the depth data, we realized that they were at different levels in the water column and not sharing space after all.” “I think we need more people thinking, ‘What else can I get out of this dataset?’ because that gives you the chance to understand things in a way that couldn’t have otherwise,” she continued. “Taking information in isolation is different than when you integrate. It gives you a more holis- tic view of what they’re doing and how they’re using the space.” A lasting impact Beyond her trailblazing track record in shark movement, Michelle is leading a national collaborative research infrastructure program through IMOS, hoping to use data once again to make a broader impact. “At IMOS, we have over 60 different ocean sub-facilities that we oper- ate around the country. It’s a program that has been running for 15 years now, and its objective is to collect sustained observations of the ocean environment,” she said. “My interest is taking what we do now and being able to do more.” She aims to bridge the gap between physical oceanographers and biologists because she believes integrating the data streams will help solve more complex questions and better understand the marine envi- ronment as a whole. “Part of the philosophy at IMOS is creating societal benefit,” she explained. “So, we look at areas where we think our data can play a role in making a difference… how do we use what we do to be important and useful to more than just scientists? How can it be useful to industries that operate in the marine environment… how can we be useful to the 8 government… how can we be useful to resource managers? We’re grounded in wanting to do something that helps and creates solutions.” Michelle has also taken strides to support the next generation of shark scientists by launching Sharks International in 2010 – Aus- tralia’s first global shark confer- ence since 1990. She wanted to ensure scientists and students across Australia and developing countries would have the chance to attend a largescale event to network with others in the field and gain exposure. “Sharks International was intended to be a one-time thing; I never expected it to spin off into what it is now,” she said, noting that the conference was subse- quently held in South Africa in 2014 and Brazil in 2018. While the COVID-19 pandemic has com- plicated largescale events and conferences, Sharks International is in the works to be held in Spain this October, offering both online and in-person components. “I’m really pleased to see that so many people have gotten on board and think it’s useful. We’re trying to move the conference around with the focus still being on bringing the shark world to the students, especially students and early career scientists who can’t afford to travel overseas to other large conferences.” Whether she’s spearheading new ways to study sharks or launching a global event to bring scientists together, there’s no doubt that Michelle has created a lasting impact. “I’ve tried to make the world better for sharks. That’s what I wanted when I started my career,” she said. “I personally cherish the moments in my career where I’ve been able to do something that made a difference.”What is IOTC? The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) is an intergovernmental organ- isation responsible for the manage- ment of tuna and tuna-like species in the Indian Ocean. Its main objective is 'to promote cooperation among the Contracting Parties (Members) and Cooperating Non-Contracting Parties (CNCPs) of the IOTC with a view to ensuring, through appro- priate management, the conservation and optimum utilisation of stocks covered by the organisation's establishing Agreement and to encourage sustainable development of fisheries based on such stocks.' The IOTC was established in 1993 at the 105th Session of the Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and entered into force in 1996. Decisions by IOTC members are legally binding. IOTC Members can make decisions related to the management of tuna and tuna-like resources and their associated environment that are binding on all Members and Cooperating Non-Contracting Par- ties. These decisions result in Conservation Management Measures (CMMs) that are adopted by not only Members and CNCPs, but also the fisheries that target the species focused in each CMM. Written by Alexandra Morata IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group | Programme Officer Reviewed by Paul de Bruyn IOTC Secretariat Staff | Science Manager Daniel Fernando Blue Resources Trust | Co-Founder | Director of the Fisheries and Policy Programme IUCN SSC Shark Specialist Group | Indian Ocean Regional Group | Regional Vice-Chair Evgeny Romanov CAP RUN - CITEB (Centre technique de recherche et de valorisation des milieux aquatiques) Sharks* and the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission ( IOTC ) *The term ‘shark’ refers to all species of sharks, rays, and chimaeras Fish Stocks refer to a community or subpopula- tion of a certain species of fish, which in fisheries management is consid- ered a single unit. Map showing Contract Parties (dark blue) and Cooperating Non-Contracting Parties (light blue) in the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) (as of February 2022). Source: www.iotc.org 9Next >