Shark Species

European fishermen have a long history of catching a wide variety of sharks and rays. Some beleaguered species finally have EU protection while others are the subject of new, unregulated fisheries.

Here we profile some of Europe’s most heavily fished species.



Porbeagle shark Lamna nasus A powerful, torpedo-shaped, highly migratory shark closely related to great white sharks.		Shortfin mako shark Isurus oxyrinchus This wide-ranging shark, thought to be the world’s fastest, cannot out-swim today’s vast fishing fleets.
Found	Cool waters in both hemispheres, including offshore in northern Europe.	Found	Open-ocean waters around the world, including the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean.
Demand	Fins valuable and sold to Asia while sought primarily for meat.	Demand	Among the most highly sought of EU shark species, particularly by Spanish high seas longline fishermen. Both fins and meat are valuable
Status	Critically Endangered in the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea; Vulnerable globally.	Status	Critically Endangered in the Mediterranean Sea; Vulnerable in the Northeast Atlantic.
Fishing Limits	EU commercial catch unregulated until 2008; reduced to zero from 2010.	Fishing Limits	None for EU waters or vessels


Blue shark Prionace glauca This sleek, brilliant-blue shark is known to cross entire ocean basins.		Deep-sea gulper shark Centrophorus granulosus A small, dark-brown shark with glowing, green eyes. Thought to give birth to just one pup every two to three years.
Found	Open ocean including the Mediterranean and Atlantic from Norway to South Africa.	Found	The deep ocean, between 200 and 1,200 metres below the surface.
Demand	Dominant species in Asian fin trade due more to high volume of catches rather than exceptionally high value. Increasingly sought due to growing markets for meat.	Demand	Severely overfished off Europe for meat and the rich oil from their livers.
Status	Near Threatened globally.	Status	Critically Endangered off Europe (particularly Portugal); Vulnerable globally
Fishing Limits	None for EU waters or vessels.	Fishing Limits	EU quotas reduced biennially since 2005, set to go to zero in 2012.


Angel shark Squatina squatina This flattened species resembles skate and rays and can bury itself in sand to hide from predators.		Starry smoothhound Mustelus asterias A small, white-spotted shark that feeds primarily on crustaceans and was recently found to grow much more slowly than previously thought.
Found	Once common in coastal waters of the Northeast Atlantic, Mediterranean and Black Sea; now rare and locally extinct in the North Sea and northern Mediterranean	Found	Relatively shallow waters of the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea.
Demand	Seriously depleted, despite their low value, due to incidental catch, particularly in trawls.	Demand	Increasingly sought after by fishermen off Atlantic continental Europe, primarily for meat.
Status	Critically Endangered throughout European waters; Vulnerable globally.	Status	Still officially listed by IUCN as Least Concern, but new studies report overfishing causing disappearance from much of former range, particularly in Southern Europe.
Fishing Limits	EU prohibition on retention agreed in 2008, to start in 2009.	Fishing Limits	None for EU waters or vessels.


Spiny dogfish or ‘Spurdog’ Squalus acanthias A slender, white-spotted shark that grows to about 1 metre in length and travels in schools. Can live for many decades; remains pregnant for nearly two years.
Found	Cool, coastal waters worldwide.
Demand	Smoked belly flaps popular in Germany. Sold as ‘rock salmon’ in UK fish and chips shops. Fins not considered high quality but still traded internationally.
Status	Critically Endangered in the Northeast Atlantic; Endangered in the Mediterranean Sea; Vulnerable in the Black Sea and globally.
Fishing Limits	Excessive EU commercial fishing quotas finally set at zero, starting in 2011.