Critical habitats for sharks and rays in Asia remain largely unprotected

Gonzalez-Pestana, Adriana and Kyne, Peter M. and García-Rodríguez, Emiliano and Charles, Ryan and Brito, Vanessa Bettcher and Armstrong, Asia O. and Batlle-Morera, Amanda and Palacios, Marta D. and Rohner, Christoph A. and di Sciara, Giuseppe Notarbartolo and Acebes, Jo Marie V. and Adam, Serena and Agustines, Ariana S. and Alghozali, Faqih Akbar and Amadoru, Chethana L. and Ambo-Rappe, Rohani and Aquino, Maria Theresa R. and Araujo, Gonzalo and Argeswara, Janis and Arinda, Bella Riskyta and Arunrugstichai, Sirachai and Astari, Elisabeth and Auditore, Lisa-Marie and Banerjee, Avik and Baranowski, Clare M. and Barnes, Alissa J. and Beale, Calvin S. and Beura, Sweta and Blakeway, Jessica-Anne and Cañete, Titus E. and Chansue, Nantarika and Chin, Andrew and Chittapisan, Supachok and Chuangcharoendee, Metavee and Chung, Fung Chen and Dilrukshi, Thilini and Dornhege-Lazaroff, Mareike and Dudgeon, Christine L. and Erdmann, Mark V. and Fahmi and Mansur, Elisabeth Fahrni and Fernando, Daniel and Furumitsu, Keisuke and Flam, Anna L. and Gaffar, Syamsidar and Gausmann, Peter and Gobiraj, Ramajeyam and Grant, Michael I. and Haque, Alifa B. and Hara, Kojiro and Hilbourne, Simon T. and Ho, Kooi Chee and Hsu, Hua Hsun and Hutchinson, Neil and Ichida, Nesha K. and Jacoby, David M. P. and Jarugulla, Eswar S. and Karnad, Divya and Kinattumkara, Bineesh and Kizhakudan, Shoba Joe and Gokgoz, Alp and Gustianto, Muhammad Wiralaga Dwi and Gyi, Thanda Ko and Lavina and Li, Chia-Yun J. and Liyana, Eurida and Lobo, Aaron Savio and Magson, Kirsty and Manopawitr, Petch and McCann, Catherine D. and McCann, David A. and Menon, Muktha and Mizrahi, Meira and Mohapatra, Anil and Abdullah, Maizah Mohd and Muallil, Richard N. and Murray, Ryan and Muttaqin, Efin and Nazareth, Evan M. and Neranjan, Anusha and Noor, Raisa and Nugraha, Budi and Oliver, Simon P. and Ong, Sue Andrey and Orlov, Alexei M. and Payyat, Sharang and Pilcher, Nicolas J. and Ponzo, Alessandro and Prehadi and Putra, Mochamad Iqbal Herwata and Vo, Van Quang and Rambahiniarison, Joshua and Remya, L. and Reza, Akbar and Roul, Subal Kumar and Sen, Swatipriyanka and Septiani, Citra and Sianipar, Abraham B. and Sebastian, Pascal and Setyawan, Edy and Shamsuddoha, Mohammad and Shidqi, Rafid A. and Simeon, Benaya M. and Som, Sitha and Stean, Serena J. and Spiji, Davies Austin and Sutaria, Dipani and Tanna, Akshay and Then, Amy Y. H. and Thomas, Sujitha and Tolen, Nicholas J. and Trebol, Micaela L. and Tyabji, Zoya and Utzurrum, Jean Asuncion T. and Venables, Stephanie K. and Volvenko, Igor V. and Ward-Paige, Christine A. and Yamaguchi, Atsuko and Yaptinchay, Arnel and Yuneni, Ranny R. and Zhang, Jie and Ziadi-Künzli, Fabienne and Zubair, Masiat A. and Jabado, Rima W. (2026) Critical habitats for sharks and rays in Asia remain largely unprotected. Biodiversity and Conservation, 35 (7): 179. ISSN 0960-3115

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Abstract

The Asia region harbors exceptional chondrichthyan (shark, ray, and chimaera) diversity but faces intense fishing pressure. The Important Shark and Ray Area (ISRA) process provides a collaborative, evidence-based framework to identify critical habitats and inform spatial management. We assessed ISRAs across the Bay of Bengal, Southeast Asia, and the Northwest Pacific to characterize their extent, ecological significance, and conservation relevance. We delineated 122 ISRAs spanning ~ 1 million km2 (~ 3% of the region) across 12 jurisdictions and international waters, encompassing habitats for 121 species (~ 30% of Asia’s chondrichthyans), 76% of which are threatened. Depleted taxa (e.g., giant guitarfishes, Glaucostegidae) were represented, but charismatic megafauna (e.g., Whale Shark Rhincodon typus) were overrepresented. In contrast, deepwater and freshwater species were underrepresented. Reproductive Areas were the most common ISRA sub-criterion applied (52% of ISRAs), largely in nearshore zones, while areas for range-restricted species were less frequently (18%) identified. Twelve ISRAs overlapped with biodiversity hotspots, including seven in areas of high overall chondrichthyan species richness and five in areas of high range-restricted species richness. Citizen science was the predominant research method used to delineate ISRAs, while fisheries data were underused despite the region’s major fisheries footprint. Geographic coverage was uneven: Indonesia held the most ISRAs (n = 40; 71.7% of ISRA coverage) while eight jurisdictions (e.g., Viet Nam, China, Republic of Korea) lacked ISRAs due to data gaps. Protection shortfalls are stark: MPAs cover < 5% of national waters in 16 jurisdictions (eight with < 1%); 5.4% of ISRA area lies within MPAs; and only 2.8% of ISRA spatial extent overlaps with no-take zones. These results provide a regional foundation to guide spatial planning, prioritize management, close data gaps, and support recovery of Asia’s diverse and imperiled chondrichthyan assemblages.