Predators in the seas and rivers, the sharks and rays that inhabit the Brazilian ecosystems are living their day of being the hunted ones. Over the last two decades, overfishing has placed on the list of endangered animals various elasmobranchs – the class that covers sharks and rays and the dogfish, which, in common, have their skeleton formed only by cartilage. Research carried out in Brazil put the endangered list that were very prevalent on the national coastline such as the Rhinobatos horkelii guitarfish, the daggernose shark (Isogomphodon oxyrhynchus), the stripped smoothhound shark (Mustelus fasciatus), the  smalltooth sawfish (Pristis spp.), the grey nurse shark (Carcharias taurus) or the angel shark (Squatina spp). These animals have a relatively slow rate of growth, are late in entering into adulthood and reproduce only rarely.

There is no economic justification for the misfortune of the elasmobranch. This is because the species that have economic value are rare, as is the case of the Dasyatis marianae stingray, sold for ornamental use in aquariums, or the night shark (Carcharhinus signatus), whose meat and fins are appreciated. In truth, the immense majority of sharks and rays are captured by fishermen who are looking for other targets, such as shoals of tuna. Dead, they end up being discarded. Or else, in order not to lose the opportunity, the fishermen pull out products of some value, such as teeth (used for ornaments) and shark’s fin (an ingredient of soups in Asian countries) and then throw the carcass back into the sea.

For some years now a group of oceanographers and icthiologists have been calling attention to the extermination of the elasmobranch, but now they have the chance of presenting a strategy to guarantee the survival of these species. One is talking about the National Action Plan for the Conservation and Management of Elasmobranch Fish in Brazil, which is suggesting a series of measures, such as a moratorium on the exploration of some species, an increase in the control of fishing boats and the banning of fishing techniques harmful to sharks and rays. The diagnosis is based on almost 200 scientific papers. Sent on to the Ministry of the Environment, this is the result of two years of work of 12 researchers, members of the Brazilian Society for the Study of Elasmobranches (Sbeel in the Portuguese acronym), who work in different regions of Brazil. The plan recommends a research effort to better understand the biology of these fish and their population dynamics. Along the Brazilian coast 85 species of sharks and 55 of rays are known. The number, considered modest, would be the reflex of the, as yet, unknown vast void of scientific knowledge concerning sharks and rays in Brazil. “As the elasmobranches are not the fishermen’s direct targets, their research is not considered a priority by funding organs”, says the oceanographer Rosangela Lessa, a professor at the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE) and the organizer of the document.

The researchers admit that it is difficult to make the development agencies and lay public fully aware of the need to preserve species that make up part of thrillers and horror movies. But, they recall, sharks and rays are important for the biodiversity of seas and rivers. “They make up part of the food chain, and, if they get eliminated, may produce a cascading ecologically unbalanced situation whose configurations not even we could imagine”, says Ricardo Rosa, a researcher with the Federal University of Paraiba (UFPB). “Furthermore, the stigma is unfounded. Of the 400 species of sharks, no more than a dozen are really dangerous.”

Among the species most at risk, a variety of ray named the Brazilian Guitarfish or Rhinobatos horkelii stands out, which, known by its larger size, can reach 1,3 meters in diameter. Up until the start of 1980s it was abundant along the coast of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Today it is critically threatened. Between 1985 and 1997 there was a decline of 85% in its population throughout the southern Brazil continental shelf, because of the overfishing of other species. The management plan is drastic in relation to this ray. A fishing ban is proposed, with the prohibition of its commercialization in Brazil for an undetermined period, until scientific data attests to the recovery of its populations.

The coasts of the Southeast and South of Brazil are those most affected, according to the diagnosis of the action plan. In the South, the expansion of Brazilian fishing activity began in 1947, with the development of a technique capable of capturing fish at as deep as 50 meters depth. The fishing of oceanic species began in 1959, with the use of a trotline for fishing tuna. The trotline is fishing equipment widely used, which consists of a main line linked to other secondary ones dotted with fishhooks to hook the fish. In 1998, the fleet that carried out this type of fishing targeted some types of sharks, due to the value of their fins on the international market. But the carcass was not normally of commercial value. For this reason the fishermen would cut off the fins and throw the animals back into the sea, at times still alive. As the control of exploration is normally done when the fishing boats are unloading, this practice escaped inspectors.