Sphyrna zygaena | UAE National Red List of Marine Species: Reef-building corals, cartilaginous fishes and select bony fishes
Taxa
Sphyrna zygaena | (Linnaeus, 1758)
Publication
Asessment status in full
Endangered
Assessment status abreviation
EN
Assessment status criteria
A2d
Assessment rationale/justification
In UAE waters, the Smooth Hammerhead occurs only in the Sea of Oman. Capture of this species is totally banned in the UAE. It is sometimes confused with the more abundant Scalloped Hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini). This species is caught in both coastal and oceanic fisheries, and its low productivity causes it to be susceptible to rapid population declines from exploitation. Its fins are highly valued, and this is driving increased targeted fishing in some areas. Despite the lack of data, the similar ecology, low productivity, and presence of intensive fisheries, mean that this species, like other large sharks in the Arabian Sea region, has likely undergone significant declines. 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, it is suspected to have declined by at least 50% over the past three generation lengths, or about 72 years. It is listed as Endangered A2d.
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
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
This species is impacted by target and bycatch fisheries across its range. Finning and discarding of carcasses has also been reported, especially in offshore and high seas fisheries (Anderson and Simpfendorfer 2005). This species is being increasingly targeted in some areas in response to increasing demand for the fins (Jabado et al. 2015).
Conservation Measures
Conservation measures:
Conservation measures notes:
Required conservation measures:
Scientific Name | Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | Genus |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sphyrna zygaena | Animalia | Chordata | Chondrichthyes | Carcharhiniformes | Sphyrnidae | Sphyrna |