Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40450545›Full record

ArticleConservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology2025

Reconstructing historical catch trends of threatened sharks and rays based on fisher ecological knowledge.

Guido Leurs, Rima W Jabado, Assana Camará, Lilísio Dos Santos, Diosnes Manuel Nonque, Thije J Zuidewind, Iça Barry, Pierre Campredon, Benja Blaschke, Karin de Boer and 6 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Reconstructing historical catch trends of threatened sharks and rays based on fisher ecological knowledge.Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Guido LeursConservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-9111-3902
Rima W JabadoElasmo Project, Dubai, UAE.
Assana CamaráInstituto Nacional de Investigação das Pescas e Oceanografia (INIPO), Bissau, Guinea-Bissau.
Lilísio Dos SantosISCTE University Institute of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
Diosnes Manuel NonqueInstituto Nacional de Investigação das Pescas e Oceanografia (INIPO), Bissau, Guinea-Bissau.
Thije J ZuidewindConservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Iça BarryInstituto Nacional de Investigação das Pescas e Oceanografia (INIPO), Bissau, Guinea-Bissau.
Pierre CampredonInstituto da Biodiversidade e das Áreas Protegidas (IBAP), Bissau, Guinea-Bissau.
Benja BlaschkeConservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Karin de BoerConservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Nadia HijnerConservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Han OlffConservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Samuel Ledo PontesInstituto da Biodiversidade e das Áreas Protegidas (IBAP), Bissau, Guinea-Bissau.
Aissa RegallaInstituto da Biodiversidade e das Áreas Protegidas (IBAP), Bissau, Guinea-Bissau.
Matthew Bjerregaard WalshFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy.
Laura L GoversConservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.

Funding

Exacte en Natuurwetenschappen NWO016.VENI.181.087MAVA FoundationShark Conservation Fund
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Small-scale fisheries often lack historical shark and ray catch information, hampering their management. We reconstructed historical catch trends and current fishing pressure by combining local ecological knowledge, satellite-based vessel counts, and a short-term landing-site survey. To test the effectiveness of this method, we focused on the Bijagós Archipelago (Guinea-Bissau, West Africa), where historical fisheries data are lacking. Benthic rays (stingrays [Dasyatidae] and butterfly rays [Gymnura spp.]), benthopelagic rays (duckbill eagle rays [Aetomylaeus bovinus] and cownose rays [Rhinoptera marginata]), guitarfish (Glaucostegus and Rhinobatos spp.), requiem sharks (Carcharhinidae), and hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna spp.) declined in abundance by 81.5-96.7% (species dependent) from 1960 to 2020. Fishing effort increased annually: fishing trip duration by 42.0% (SE 3.4), numbers of fishing vessels at sea as perceived by fishers by 36.3% (1.0) (1960-2020), and number of vessels by 12.0% (1.1) (2007-2022). We estimated that in 2020, fishing vessels collectively captured 61-264 sharks and 522-2194 rays per day in the archipelago, depending on the proportion of the fishing fleet that was active (i.e., low fleet activity of 18% and high fleet activity of 80%). We advocate for reducing shark and ray catches by regulating fleet size, reinforcing boundaries of protected areas, and collecting fisher-dependent information on shark and ray landings to safeguard these vulnerable species and coastal livelihoods. We demonstrated the effectiveness of using this 3-pronged approach to provide baseline data on shark fisheries, a common challenge in areas with small-scale fisheries and limited research capacity.

Indexed as

Conservation of Natural ResourcesEndangered SpeciesFisheriesSharksSkates, FishAnimalsÁfrica Occidentalcoastal ecologyconocimiento ecológico localconservaciónconservationconservation ecologyecología costeraecología de la conservaciónelasmobranchselasmobranquiosfisheriesGuinea‐BisáuGuinea‐Bissaulocal ecological knowledgepesqueríaspesquerías artesanalessmall‐scale fisheriesWest Africa

Identifiers

PMID40450545
PMCPMC12451511

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.