Epinephelus areolatus | UAE National Red List of Marine Species: Reef-building corals, cartilaginous fishes and select bony fishes
Taxa
Epinephelus areolatus | (Forsskål, 1775)
Publication
Asessment status in full
Endangered
Assessment status abreviation
EN
Assessment status criteria
A2bcd+4bcd
Assessment rationale/justification
This species inhabits both soft and hard bottom habitats throughout UAE waters. It is exploited by grouper fisheries, and it appears likely that this species is overfished in the UAE. During the period from 2005-2016, a 67% decline in landings of this species occurred off Abu Dhabi. In addition, due to severe declines in Gulf coral reefs, this species may also be impacted by habitat degradation. The status of population(s) outside the UAE is not well-understood, though it is also heavily exploited elsewhere, especially off Oman and Iran. Based on fish market observations and catch data, it is inferred that this species has declined by at least 50-60% in the UAE since about 1995, or a little over one generation length (29 years). Fishing effort is expected to remain the same or increase in the future time period over the next two generations. Therefore, it is listed as Endangered A2bcd+4bcd.
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 specifics
IUCN v3.1 + Regional Guidelines v4.0
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.
Endemic to region
Not_assigned
Endemism Notes
Is an endemic?: Not_assigned
Threats listed in assessment
Overexploitation is a major threat to this species in the UAE. Its occurrence in the trap (gargoor) fishery as ghost fishing may also cause mortality in this species. Corals in the UAE and Arabian Gulf have severely declined due to the increasing frequency of mass bleaching events caused by rising water temperatures, which is a consequence of climate change, as well as pervasive coastal development (Riegl et al. 2018, Burt et al. 2019).
Conservation Measures
Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:
Scientific Name | Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | Genus |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Epinephelus areolatus | Animalia | Chordata | Actinopterygii | Perciformes | Epinephelidae | Epinephelus |