Green, Madeline, Finucci, Brittany, Mukherji, Sushmita, Rigby, Cassandra, Saleem, Marie, Scroglier, Sara, and Simpfendorfer, Colin (2026) Monitoring Deep-Sea Shark Fisheries Under a Precautionary Framework and the Role of eDNA. Aquatic Conservation: marine and freshwater ecosystems, 36 (7). e70419.

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Abstract

The reopening of the Maldivian gulper shark (Centrophorus spp.) fishery highlights the need for precautionary management under substantial uncertainty. Gulper sharks are among the least productive and most vulnerable marine species, with extremely slow recovery following overexploitation. Although reopening without evidence of recovery poses clear conservation risks, the precautionary principle is insufficiently operationalised in a proposal to use Environmental DNA (eDNA) to inform management, lacking defined reference points, recovery thresholds, or harvest control rules. eDNA, as currently applied, cannot meet the evidentiary requirements of precautionary fisheries management, as it provides presence-only information and cannot reliably indicate abundance, population structure, or recovery. eDNA should therefore complement, not replace, robust baseline data, species-specific assessments and explicit decision rules.

Item ID:	92690
Item Type:	Article (Commentary)
ISSN:	1099-0755
Copyright Information:	© 2026 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Date Deposited:	25 Aug 2026 02:52
FoR Codes:	41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410404 Environmental management @ 100%
SEO Codes:	18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1805 Marine systems and management > 180501 Assessment and management of benthic marine ecosystems @ 100%
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