A. Species
Scientific name: Isurus oxyrinchus
Common name(s): shortfin mako shark
Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Endangered
B. Location of use
Geographic location(s):
- Pacific - southwest
Country/Region:
C. Scale of assessment
Scale of assessment: National Level
Name/Details of location: New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)
D. Timescale of use
Start Year: 1998
End Year: 2018
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, Collection/display, Scientific Research, Decorative and aesthetic and Recreation
Motivation of use: Income generation from trade (individual/household/community), Largescale commercial exploitation for trade, Recreational and Traditional/Cultural/Spiritual
Is this use legal or illegal?: Some use is legal and some is illegal
F. Information about the Users
Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people, Non-local Internal, Non-local External, National / local private sector and International private sector
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 sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: CITES Non detriment findings
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: The recent population increases, shown by various fisheries indicators, are likely to continue because retention rates have declined further due to increasing restrictions on the ability of fishers to land and trade in shark fins. Overall, the evidence shows that shortfin mako are being sustainably managed under the QMS. The levels of tuna longline fishing effort have declined substantially over the past 40 years and therefore it is likely that fewer shortfin mako are now being captured as bycatch. In recent years, many shortfin mako have been released alive rather than landed or discarded dead. Fisheries indicators, such as the proportion of zero captures and catch per unit effort, show that the New Zealand population has been stable or increasing in recent decades. It should be noted that the landings have never been close to the actual TACC set under the QMS, and although the recreational and customary take has not been accurately quantified or estimated, both are believed to be well below quota limits. The evidence suggests it is reasonable to allow exports of shortfin mako shark products that were legally obtained within the New Zealand EEZ under the Quota Management System on the basis that the recent level of take is sustainable and unlikely to lead to stock decline. This suggests that 20 tonnes of shortfin mako can be sustainably introduced to New Zealand if it was taken from the high seas within 500 nautical miles of the New Zealand EEZ. This quantity is arbitrarily set at half of the combined recreational take and customary take (40 tonnes) allowed within the EEZ under the QMS, on the basis that it appears that these two allowances are nowhere near reached each year.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable
Details of assessment carried out: CITES Non detriment findings
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Species typically caught as bycatch of tuna fishing. If legal landing not possible, then often dicarded dead. Report finds that "20 tonnes of shortfin mako can be sustainably introduced to New Zealand if it was taken from the high seas within 500 nautical miles of the New Zealand EEZ. This quantity is arbitrarily set at half of the combined recreational take and customary take (40 tonnes) allowed within the EEZ under the QMS, on the basis that it appears that these two allowances are nowhere near reached each year."
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: not recorded
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?: No, sustainability not determined
Details of assessment carried out: shark finning: CITES Non detriment findings
Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species
1. Species-specific data should continue to be collected on fishing effort; the number, weight, sex, age, and total and/or fork length of all shortfin mako landed and, wherever possible, those discarded dead and released alive. 2. The recreational and customary take under the QMS is estimated through survey of recreational and customary fishers, especially to gather information on customary take for which there is a lack of data. 3. Increase observer coverage of domestic longline vessels, midwater trawl vessels and New Zealand-flagged high seas vessels, especially those operating in areas where shortfin mako are often caught. There are discrepancies between observer records and fisher records, but it is unclear if this is due to misreporting by fishers, or due to observer coverage not being truly representative of the fishery. 4. The type of indicator-based analysis performed by Francis et al. (2014) and Francis & Finucci (2019) should be repeated at 3-5 yearly intervals, and the models improved with more data and testing. 5. Further efforts should be made to satellite tag adult shortfin mako, especially females in the New Zealand EEZ and in waters of neighbouring Pacific countries to better determine within-region movements of adults. 6. New Zealand should collaborate with Oceania neighbours, and especially with WCPFC, to conduct a formal quantitative stock assessment of shortfin mako in the southwestern Pacific and, if necessary, establish quota for high seas fisheries in the southwest Pacific. Now that shortfin mako are listed on Appendix II of CITES, all catches on the high seas will require a positive non-detriment finding before they can be landed, so there is scope for regional players to determine what harvest is sustainable in the high seas of the southwest Pacific. 7. Review, research and implement best practice mitigation methods to minimise captures of shortfin mako in each fishery. 8. Research, develop and implement specific methods for handling and releasing shortfin mako, and investigate the fate of those released alive while still in the water (cut free) versus those that have been brought on board and then released. 9. The volumes of shortfin mako product introduced from the high seas to New Zealand or by New Zealand flagged vessels to foreign ports should be monitored closely, and expert advice be sought before the 20-tonne limit given above is allowed to be exceeded.
Record source
Information about the record source: scientific_pub
Date of publication/issue/production: 2019-01-01T00:00:00+0000
Source Reference(s):
Biodiversity Group)
Date of record entry: 2023-09-12