Global spatial risk assessment of sharks under the footprint of fisheries

Effective ocean management and conservation of highly migratory species depends on resolving overlap between animal
movements and distributions and fishing effort. Yet, this information is lacking at a global scale. Here we show, using
a big-data approach combining satellite-tracked movements of pelagic sharks and global fishing fleets, that 24% of
the mean monthly space used by sharks falls under the footprint of pelagic longline fisheries. Space use hotspots of
commercially valuable sharks and of internationally protected species had the highest overlap with longlines (up to 76%
and 64%, respectively) and were also associated with significant increases in fishing effort. We conclude that pelagic
sharks have limited spatial refuge from current levels of high-seas fishing effort. Results demonstrate an urgent need for
conservation and management measures at high-seas shark hotspots and highlight the potential of simultaneous satellite
surveillance of megafauna and fishers as a tool for near-real time, dynamic management