Fair Seas has responded to a consultation on a ‘Northern Irish Elasmobranch Conservation Strategy’.

Fair Seas’ full consultation response can be found here.

With over 1200 species worldwide, elasmobranchs (sharks, skates and rays) are known to play important ecological roles in their environments. But, for the last five decades, their numbers have been in steep decline around the world and a third of all species are now threatened with extinction.

In September 2024, the Marine and Fisheries Division of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in the north of Ireland, announced the publication of a ‘Northern Ireland Elasmobranch Conservation Strategy’ along with an accompanying public consultation. Fair Seas welcomes and celebrates this important step in securing the future of these animals critical to ocean health. With this strategy, DAERA demonstrate great initiative and we hope to see other countries in the Northeast Atlantic follow suit. The ongoing engagement with stakeholders in the creation of this strategy is particularly welcomed and Fair Seas looks forward to this process continuing throughout its evolution and implementation.

Nevertheless, Fair Seas has responded to the draft strategy consultation highlighting concerns with shortfalls in the aims laid out in the document. For meaningful and effective conservation, an elasmobranch conservation strategy should not only lay out the plans to monitor and research populations, but also the actionable preservation, mitigation and restoration measures which will be made possible from this. Preventing declines from ongoing threats and pressures should be considered as necessary as responding to those faced by already vulnerable and endangered species. Fair Seas wishes to see the strategy evolve in the direction of clear actions and pathways to achieving them as well as an outline of the timeline in which these are to be completed and reviewed.

Check out some of of our other blogs about the incredible sharks found in Irish waters here. 

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