Species Use Database

Spadenosed shark, Dog shark
Scoliodon laticaudus

Used for Food and feed in Bangladesh

A. Species

Scientific name: Scoliodon laticaudus

Common name(s): Spadenosed shark, Dog shark

Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Near Threatened


B. Location of use

Geographic location(s):

  • Bangladesh

Country/Region: Bangladesh / Bay of Bengal


C. Scale of assessment

Scale of assessment: Sub-national / Sub-region / Sub-State

Name/Details of location: Chittagong district / BFDC Fish harbor, Cox’s Bazar and Fishery Ghat ish landing center


D. Timescale of use

Start Year: 2014

End Year: 2014


E. Information about the use

How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat

Type of use: Extractive

Practice of use: Targeted fishing harvesting/exploiting or collecting wild aquatic resources

Lethal or non-lethal: Lethal

Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism

Purpose(s) of end use: Food and feed

Motivation of use: Basic subsistence and Income generation from trade (individual/household/community)

Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law


F. Information about the Users

Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people and National external


G. Information about the sustainability of use

Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable

Details of assessment carried out: This study - based on records of sharks landed at the ports studied.

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: The study laments the lack of reliable longer-term catch data, explaining that this limits any ability to assess sustainability; nevertheless, the catch record clearly showed declining trends and the bulk of the catch was comprised by small sized sharks, likely due to overfishing and lack of gear size limitation. There was a clear indication of change in shark seasonal abundance which might be due to the large exploitation of dog shark during October to December than the previous years. Decreasing in shark species composition was also found which might pose serious threats to shark population and total yield.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable

Details of assessment carried out: This study

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: The study expresses concern that although sharks comprise an important part of this regional fishery, supporting livelihoods, local economics and food security, in all likelihood dog (and other) sharks were being over-exploited, which could ultimately undermine sustainability. Current fishing gear limitations and the size of vessels also limits artisanal fishing to smaller sharks in inshore waters, where dog sharks predominate - further increasing their vulnerability to over-exploitation.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable

Details of assessment carried out: This study

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: The study expresses concern that although sharks comprise an important part of this regional fishery, supporting livelihoods, local economics and food security, in all likelihood dog (and other) sharks were being over-exploited, which could ultimately undermine sustainability. Current fishing gear limitations and the size of vessels also limits artisanal fishing to smaller sharks in inshore waters, where dog sharks predominate - further increasing their vulnerability to over-exploitation.

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: not recorded

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: not recorded


Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species

The study concludes that steps should be taken to ensure maximum sustainable yield and conservation through the inclusion of sharks in the [Bangladesh] Fish Act, restricting overexploitation or illegal exploitation.


Record source

Information about the record source: scientific_pub

Date of publication/issue/production: 2015-01-01T00:00:00+0000

Source Reference(s):

Md, M. H., Sarker, B. S., Rahman, M., Md, S. A. P., Md, J. S., Km, S. N., & Parvej, M. R. (2015). Present Yield Status, Percentage Composition and Seasonal Abundance of Shark in Two Geographically Important Zones of Bangladesh. Fish Aquac J, 6(144), 2.

Date of record entry: 2022-12-24