CEFAS23-157 ITT for technical expertise to support the Sri Lanka shark and ray trade, under the Ocean Country Partnership Programme (OCPP)

It is estimated that over one-third of sharks, skates and rays (elasmobranchs) are threatened with extinction worldwide due to a combined effect of global fishing pressure, conservative life history characteristics, and high market price for the fins of some species. Shark fisheries tend to be diverse and unregulated small-scale fisheries, often characterised by illegal fishing, non-systematic data collection and high volumes of bycatch, which presents a challenging management scenario for shark fishing nations. Th...