Some Observation on the Silky Shark (Carcharhinus falciformis) in the Tuna Gillnet Fisheries of Pakistan

Sharks form important part of bycatch of the tuna gillnet operations in Pakistan. Silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis) was observed to the most dominating species in commercial landings of oceanic sharks at Karachi Fish Harbour Pakistan followed by mako shark. This species is considered as commercially important, as it meat is locally consumed whereas fins are exported despite restrictions because this species is included in Appendix-II of CITES. During the present study it was observed that large sized specimens (161 cm to 191cm TL) were   not caught during 2017 and 2018 whereas in 2016, silky shark of these size classes were caught by tuna gillnetters as bycatch indicating overfishing of shark in general and silky shark in particular.