Lethrinus nebulosus | UAE National Red List of Marine Species: Reef-building corals, cartilaginous fishes and select bony fishes
Taxa
Lethrinus nebulosus | (Forsskål, 1775)
Publication
Asessment status in full
Endangered
Assessment status abreviation
EN
Assessment status criteria
A2bcd+4bcd
Assessment rationale/justification
This inshore, reef-associated species occurs throughout UAE waters. It is heavily exploited in the UAE, and stock assessments conducted for Abu Dhabi in 2006, 2010 and 2018 reported it as overfished. Based on catch data and stock assessments, this species has undergone an inferred declined of at least 52-78% over the past two generation lengths, or 14 years. With recent fisheries management measures implemented in Abu Dhabi, it is difficult to say whether fishing effort will continue to increase or decrease within the near future. Considering that other Emirates and surrounding countries that likely share this stock do not have management measures in place to reduce effort in the gargoor fishery, population declines are expected to continue. In addition, degradation of coastal habitats in the UAE and Arabian Gulf region, especially for coral reefs, is expected to continue. The population in UAE is inferred to have some level of connectivity with those in surrounding countries, and declines have been reported from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait. It is listed as Endangered A2bcd+A4bcd. In addition to improvements needed in fisheries management, taxonomic research is also recommended.
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
Overfishing is a major threat to this species in the Arabian Gulf. 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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lethrinus nebulosus | Animalia | Chordata | Actinopterygii | Perciformes | Lethrinidae | Lethrinus |