Biodiversity and conservation of marine elasmobranchs in the extreme south of the Brazil, Southwestern Atlantic

Coastal sharks and rays in a marine protected area in southernBrazil

“…Coastal regions of southern Brazil are areas with frequent presence of species of sharks, including pregnant females and neonates (de Chelotti & Santos, 2020; Vooren & Klippel, 2005). However, these regions have an intense fishing effort due to recreational fishing from the coast or pier (Motta et al ., 2016), artisanal fishing practiced in shallow waters (de Chelotti et al ., 2019; Santos et al ., 2016) and industrial fishing carried out at greater depths between 50 and 200 m. This makes the coastal region an area with great difficulty in controlling fishing mortality (de Chelotti & Santos, 2020; Vooren & Klippel, 2005).…”

“…In southern Brazil the latest studies cite 94 species of elasmobranchs, where 27 are typically coastal (de Chelotti & Santos, 2020; Vooren & Oddone, 2019) and have a vast history of catches by artisanal and industrial fleets between 1980 and 2011(Haimovici et al ., 2006; ICMBIO, 2018; Vooren & Klippel, 2005). Population declines observed in this period have led some elasmobranchs to the Brazilian list of endangered species (ICMBIO, 2018), mainly due to the intense capture of pregnant females and neonates during the spring (October, November and December) and summer (January, February and March) (Lessa et al ., 1986; Vooren & Klippel, 2005).…”

“…The great participation of endangered species (88.5% at national level and 63.2% at global level) reaffirms the importance of the area for the conservation of elasmobranchs because the vast majority were frequent in coastal landings in the 1970s, 1980s and mid‐1990s (Lessa et al ., 1986; Vooren & Klippel, 2005), and today they are found in the LPNP an area with little fishing effort. It is also worth mentioning that the species present in the other categories (DD, NT and NE) also deserve special attention regarding their conservation, as R. lalandii and I. oxyrinchus are frequently captured by fleets of coastal gill and pelagic longline throughout Brazil, respectively (Barreto et al ., 2016; de Chelotti & Santos, 2020).…”

Consumption rate of stingrays in the southern coastal area of Flores Island

“…If this overfishing continues there will be permanent damage to the stock and failure to restore original population size [20] so area management should consider other livelihood options for fishermen and traders [21]. Mitigation measures taken so far have not been as effective as expected [22]. Ignorance of consumers about the products they consume is a very big risk for the sustainability of stingray fisheries.…”

Retrieving records of a rare and threatened shark in a mosaic of marine‐protected areas of southeastern Brazil

“…This historical lack of information on G. cirratum in its southern limit of distribution, combined with the advances in fishing in recent decades, with a consequent reduction in many shark populations, especially in the southeast and south of Brazil (Barreto et al ., 2016; Chelotti & Santos, 2020; Viana, 2013; Vooren & Klippel, 2005), made this species one of the first to be considered vulnerable in the regional list of endangered fauna of the São Paulo State (São Paulo, 1998). In 2018, its status was re‐evaluated as critically endangered (SMA, 2018); nonetheless, some authors claim that this species could already be regionally extinct (ICMBio, 2018; Wosnick et al ., 2021), due to the absence of formal records from São Paulo since the 1960s (Chaves et al ., 2019; Costa & Chaves, 2006; Gadig et al ., 2001; Graça‐Lopes et al ., 2002; Santos et al ., 2022).…”