WCS 3-Sentence Science

Study Finds Female and Immature Hammerhead Sharks Need More Protection

July 31, 2019

CREDIT: BARRY PETERS FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Each year, Wildlife Conservation Society scientists publish more than 300 peer-reviewed studies and papers. “WCS 3-Sentence Science” is a regular tip-sheet — in bite sized helpings — of some of this published work.

Here we present work by the WCS Indonesia marine program identifying a need for additional protection for female and immature hammerhead sharks.

1. A new study finds female and immature hammerhead sharks need more protection.
2. From January to December 2017, researchers from WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) gathered data on scalloped hammerhead sharks landed at Kutaraja fishing port in Banda Aceh, Aceh Province, to understand the characteristics of the fisheries, and inform the design of potential management options.
3. The data revealed that hammerheads are caught both deliberately and as bycatch, and that the majority of landed individuals are immature, with more females captured than males, indicating the need to introduce fisheries management rules to alleviate pressure on this species, and in particular to prevent negative impacts on reproductive capacity due to skewed capture of females.

Study and Journal: “Size distribution and sex ratios of scalloped hammerhead shark (Sphyrna lewini) in Banda Aceh fisheries” from IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science
WCS Co-Author(s): M. Ischan (Lead), WCS Indonesia Program; B.M. Simeone; E. Muttaqin, WCS Indonesia Program

For more information, contact: John Delaney, 718–265–7908, jdelaney@wcs.org.