into force in September 2005.
Etmopterus spinax is most abundant in the northeast Atlantic between 400 and 800 m and large mature female E. spinax are found in waters around 600 m. This may suggest that these mature sharks are being affected more by the commercial deep-water fisheries than other life stages of E. spinax that are found in shallower waters. Therefore it is suggested that this species may also be susceptible to heavy commercial fishing in the northeast Atlantic (Coelho 2007).
It is caught as bycatch in bottomtrawls fishing for Nephrops norvegicus and Pandalus borealis in the Skagerrak and Kattegat by Swedish fishermen. It has never been recorded in logbooks and most is probably discarded at sea. Off the south coast of Portugal (Algarve), this species is captured in high quantities as bycatch of the deep water fisheries that operate at these depths, namely the bottom trawl fishery that targets Norway Lobster (Nephrops norvegicus), Red Shrimp (Aristeus antennatus) and Deepwater Pink Shrimp (Parapenaeus longirostris), and the near bottom longline fishery that targets European Hake (Merluccius merluccius), Conger Eels (Conger conger) and Wreck Fish (Polyprion americanus). In both fisheries, all captured specimens are discarded (Coelho et al. 2005a), and even though most are still alive when returned to sea, they usually have severe injuries (due to the long trawling periods or as a result of the hooks) that are likely to impair their survival.
Eastern Central and Southeast Atlantic
In general, very little is known of the threats that affect this species off the African coast. Off the Angolan coast, E. spinax is an uncommon species, captured rarely by bottom trawlers and always discarded. Where this species is common off Morocco (western Sahara), Mauritania, and Sierra Leone it is taken in trawls. However, catches are not recorded because of species identification problems and because this bycatch is discarded.
There are no species specific management measures. The General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) banned bottom trawling below depths of 1,000 m in the Mediterranean in February 2005 and this came into force in September 2005.
In Swedish waters (e.g., Skagerrak and Kattegat) bottom-trawls are required to have a selective grid that should help to reduce bycatch of E. spinax.
|Citation:||Coelho, R. Blasdale, T., Mancusi, C., Serena, F., Guallart, J., Ungaro, N., Litvinov, F., Crozier, P. & Stenberg, C. 2009. Etmopterus spinax. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2009: e.T161388A5412576.Downloaded on 28 August 2016.|
|Feedback:||If you see any errors or have any questions or suggestions on what is shown on this page, please provide us with feedback so that we can correct or extend the information provided|