Eduardo Balguerías Guerra
Marine biologist and from June 2010 to February 2020, Director of the Spanish Institute of Oceanography.
Nature Communications is a prestigious journal and I assume that the paper has been rigorously evaluated in its methodological and scientific aspects by the referees and the editor.
Elasmobranchs, in general, are in a poor state of conservation due to various causes, including those mentioned by the authors of the article.
The situation is particularly worrying in the Mediterranean due to fishing pressure (most are caught as bycatch, although there is also some directed fishing) and habitat loss.
Artisanal fisheries are largely unknown in the Mediterranean, especially in the southern basin, for which there is little information on catch statistics. This type of fishing can have a significant impact on some sensitive species, including certain elasmobranchs.
Marine protected areas can be of different nature and created with different conservation objectives. As a result, management plans (and the results of their establishment) may differ from one area to another.
The management of Mediterranean fisheries resources is the responsibility of two international organisations, the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean under the FAO and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). ICCAT is responsible for the assessment and management of elasmobranch resources.
I agree with the authors of the article that the elasmobranch group is in a general state of conservation concern in the Mediterranean (and other parts of the world), although this situation differs from one species to another. I also agree that artisanal fisheries may be responsible for a significant part of the catches of these species, so efforts should be made to improve knowledge and information on their activity, especially in some countries of the southern basin.
I am aware that the international organisations in charge of the management of these resources, particularly ICCAT, are aware of the problem and are trying to put in place the means to solve it. This concern is shared by most of the countries bordering the Mediterranean which, also within their competences, are adopting different measures aimed at the conservation of the most endangered species of the group.