Session: S-99
The FinPrint project: from global surveys of coral reef sharks and rays to conservation success

Estimating population trends of marine species can be a complex and lengthy process, with the status of many species difficult to define. Over one quarter of the world’s sharks and rays are facing extinction. Increasing global concern for shark and ray populations are compounded by climate change effects in coral reef ecosystems creating an imperative to understand the status of reef shark populations. Although localised studies of reef... [ view more ]

Estimating population trends of marine species can be a complex and lengthy process, with the status of many species difficult to define. Over one quarter of the world’s sharks and rays are facing extinction. Increasing global concern for shark and ray populations are compounded by climate change effects in coral reef ecosystems creating an imperative to understand the status of reef shark populations. Although localised studies of reef shark populations have occurred in the past, large scale efforts to assess and compare abundance, species richness and global status of reef shark populations has not been attempted. The Global FinPrint project brings together new and existing baited remote underwater video data to produce the first globally standard survey of elasmobranch diversity and abundance over the world’s coral reef ecosystems. This large-scale effort seeks to fill the knowledge gaps in human impacts, habitat use and baseline abundance, aiding management and conservation efforts for elasmobranchs. This symposium will discuss the process and findings of this first ever global survey of reef sharks and how the information will be translated in conservation outcomes for coral reef ecosystems.