The following congratulatory statement was released by Dr. John Robinson, WCS’s Executive Vice President for Conservation and Science:

Sharks and rays are one of the most endangered groups of animals on the planet.There are more than 1,000 species of sharks and rays living today.Approximately 100 species of sharks and rays are regularly traded for their fins and meat.Since 2013, CITES began to list regularly commercially traded species of sharks and rays under the convention’s appendices, mainly under CITES Appendix II, which is about sustainable trade and utilization.There are 18 species up for listing at CITES Cop 18 (a...

Mako sharks, also known as the ‘cheetahs of the sharks,’ are the fastest of all shark species, but they cannot outswim the threat of overfishing in the world’s oceans, say conservation experts from WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) and other groups who applaud plans by government delegates to increase protection for makos and other sharks and rays fishes at CITES, convening this week in Switzerland.

he largest study ever conducted of its kind has identified where and how to save coral reef communities in the Indo-Pacific, according to an international group of scientists from WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) and other conservation NGOs, government agencies, and universities. The study outlines three viable strategies that can be quickly enacted to help save coral reefs that are threatened by climate change and human impacts.  

The release last week of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN's) assessment of giant guitarfish and wedgefish identifies these flattened sharks as the world's most threatened marine fish.

The Government of Bangladesh announced the declaration of the Nijhum Dwip Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the northern Bay of Bengal to safeguard critical spawning grounds for the country’s most valuable fish species and some of the world’s largest populations of endangered dolphins, porpoises, sharks, rays, and marine turtles.

On Earth Day 2019, aquariums across the United States are leading by example in the fight against one of the threats facing ocean and freshwater animals – plastic pollution. The 20 aquariums that make up the Aquarium Conservation Partnership (ACP) are committing to three business practices that bring their facilities closer to eliminating all single-use plastic materials.  Collectively more than 600 businesses and 160,000 individuals nationwide joined the aquariums by making business and lifestyle changes that reduce consumption of single-use plastic.

The government of Belize has approved “The Expansion of Fisheries Replenishment (No-Take) Zones,” which will increase the total area of Belize’s protected waters from 4.5 percent to 11.6 percent, according to WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society). 

Marine scientists from WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) and other groups examining the ecological status of coral reefs across the Indian and Pacific oceans have uncovered an unsettling fact: even the best coral reef marine parks contain less than half of the fish biomass found in the most remote reefs that lie far from human settlements.

Marine scientists from the University of Queensland, WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) and other groups have developed a methodology to assess fish stocks that combines new data with archeological and historical records – some dating back to the 8th Century AD.