Carcharhinus limbatus | UAE National Red List of Marine Species: Reef-building corals, cartilaginous fishes and select bony fishes

Taxa
Carcharhinus limbatus | (Müller & Henle, 1839)
Location
Countries in Assessment
United Arab Emirates
Country ISO code(s)
ARE
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Off
Scope (Assessment)
National
Taxon
Taxonomic Group
Vertebrates
Taxonomic Group Level 2
Fishes
Assessed taxon level
Species
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
The Blacktip Shark occurs throughout UAE waters. Elsewhere, it is circumglobal in warm temperate, subtropical and tropical waters (Last and Stevens 2009).
Habitats and Ecology
Ecological system type
Terrestrial system
No
Freshwater system
No
Marine system
Yes
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
The Blacktip Shark occurs in coastal waters on continental and insular shelves and occasionally offshore to depths of at least 100 m. Size at birth is 38-72 cm total length (TL) (Ebert et al. 2013). Maximum length is 287 cm TL. Females mature about 155-164 cm TL and males from about 143 cm TL (Sudan) to 184 cm TL (UAE) (Jabado et al. 2015; I. Elhassan unpubl. data). Size at birth is 38-72 cm TL (Ebert et al. 2013) with litter sizes from 4-11, with most about 8 (I. Elhassan unpubl. data). There is no ageing data from the region, but information from Indonesia, where maximum size is similar to that recorded from the Arabian Seas region, suggests that maturity occurs at about 8 years and maximum age is about 17 years with a generation length estimated at 13 years (Smart et al. 2015).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Assessed status
Asessment status in full
Vulnerable
Assessment status abreviation
VU
Assessment status criteria
A2cd
Assessment rationale/justification
The Blacktip Shark commonly occurs throughout UAE inshore and offshore waters. It is frequently taken in a wide range of artisanal and commercial fisheries, and is one of the dominant shark species valued for its meat and fins at many landings sites across the Arabian Sea region. Although there are limited data on its status, other Carcharhinus species in the Arabian Gulf have undergone significant declines due to exploitation. It has a relatively low reproductive capacity, which causes it to be susceptible to over-exploitation. It is apparently highly migratory, and has slow life history characteristics including low fecundity and a low annual rate of population increase. Considering this, the species has a low capacity to recover from even moderate levels of exploitation. It is especially susceptible to exploitation (target and bycatch) in many largely unregulated gill net, longline and trawl fisheries that operate within its range outside and surrounding UAE waters. Some management measures are now in place in the Arabian Sea region, although domestic fisheries are likely to continue. Though data specifically from the UAE are not available, individuals in the UAE are a component of a larger, interconnected and migratory population that occurs broadly in the north-western Indian Ocean. It is inferred that declines reported in the Arabian Sea region are representative of its status in the UAE. Based on recorded levels of exploitation and decline in habitat quality, it is suspected to have declined by 30-50% over the past three generation lengths, or about 39 years. It is listed as Vulnerable A2cd.
About the assessment
Assessment year
2019
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Affliation of assessor(s)/contributors/reviewers listed on assessment
Government
IGO
Assessor affiliation specific
Government|IGO
Criteria system
Criteria system specifics
IUCN v3.1
Criteria system used
IUCN
Criteria Citation
IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1, Second edition. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. iv + 32pp pp. And IUCN. 2012. Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and National Levels: Version 4.0. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iii + 41pp.
Endemism
Endemic to region
Not_assigned
Endemism Notes
Is an endemic?: Not_assigned
Conservation
Threats listed in assessment
Information pertaining to threats specific to the UAE are unavailable. This species is impacted by target (for fins and their valuable meat) and bycatch fisheries that are active elsewhere in its range. Inshore fisheries are generally intensive throughout the Arabian Sea region, and in some areas, fishing effort is increasing. Marine habitats in the Gulf are experiencing high levels of disturbance and quickly deteriorating due to major impacts from development activities (including dredging and reclamation), desalination plants, industrial activities, habitat destruction through the removal of shallow productive areas and major shipping lanes (Sheppard et al. 2010).
Conservation Measures

Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:

Scientific Name Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus
Carcharhinus limbatus Animalia Chordata Chondrichthyes Carcharhiniformes Carcharhinidae Carcharhinus