A shift from shelf fisheries to the deep sea is exhausting late-maturing species that recover only slowly.
Abstract
Criteria from the World Conservation Union1 (IUCN) have been used to classify marine fish species as endangered since 1996, but deep-sea fish have not so far been evaluated — despite their vulnerability to aggressive deepwater fishing as a result of certain life-history traits2. Here we use research-survey data to show that five species of deep-sea fish have declined over a 17-year period in the Canadian waters of the northwest Atlantic to such an extent that they meet the IUCN criteria for being critically endangered. Our results indicate that urgent action is needed for the sustainable management of deep-sea fisheries.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
World Conservation Union IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1 (2001).
Koslow, J. A. et al. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 57, 548–557 (2000).
Pauly, D. et al. Nature 418, 689–695 (2002).
Myers, R. A. & Worm, B. Nature 423, 280–283 (2003).
Baum, J. K. et al. Science 299, 389–392 (2003).
Casey, J. M. & Myers, R. A. Science 281, 690–692 (1998).
Graham, K. J., Andrew, N. L. & Hodgson, K. E. Mar. Freshwat. Res. 52, 549–561 (2001).
Haedrich, R. L., Merrett, N. R. & O'Dea, N. R. Fish. Res. 51, 113–122 (2001).
Moore, J. A. & Mace, P. M. Fisheries 24, 22–23 (1999).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Supplementary information
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Devine, J., Baker, K. & Haedrich, R. Deep-sea fishes qualify as endangered. Nature 439, 29 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/439029a
Published:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/439029a
This article is cited by
-
Maturation and reproduction of Squalus cubensis and Squalus cf. quasimodo (Squalidae, Squaliformes) in the southern Caribbean Sea
Ichthyological Research (2019)
-
Deep-sea hydrothermal vents as natural egg-case incubators at the Galapagos Rift
Scientific Reports (2018)
-
Trophic ecology of a deep-sea fish assemblage in the Northwest Atlantic
Marine Biology (2017)
-
Seasonal Reproductive Biology of the Bignose Fanskate Sympterygia acuta (Chondrichthyes, Rajidae)
Estuaries and Coasts (2015)
-
By-Catch Impacts in Fisheries: Utilizing the IUCN Red List Categories for Enhanced Product Level Assessment in Seafood LCAs
Environmental Management (2013)
