Overfishing is apparently the major threat to fish in European seas with sharks, commercial deep-sea species, groupers, and halibut among most threatened species.

That is according to the European Red List of Marine Fishe, released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the European Commission, and carried out in collaboration with Oceana.

The report finds that despite gradual improvements in EU fisheries management, 58 of the 59 species identified as being threatened with extinction are threatened by fishing, whether through targeted exploitation, bycatch, or indirect fisheries impacts on habitats.

Lasse Gustavsson, executive director of Oceana in Europe, said: “The results of the new European Red List assessment clearly show the far-reaching consequences of poor EU fisheries management. It’s not only a matter of Europe’s overfished stocks, but also a matter of the long-term survival of our marine fishes. “

According to the research, the most threatened group of fishes (40.4%) are the chondrichthyans (cartilaginous fishes such as sharks and rays).  Among these fishes are species such as the critically endangered Maltese skate and Angelshark, both of which are primarily threatened due to bycatch in bottom trawls.

Other threatened species include commercial deep-sea fishes, such as roundnose grenadier and deepwater redfish, groupers such as the dusky grouper and comb grouper and flatfishes such as Atlantic halibut and turbot.

The new Red List assessment takes into account all 1220 marine fishes in European waters. Overall the report finds that 7.5% of marine fish in EU waters are considered threatened. However, Oceana said that this figure could be as high as 27%, depending on the status of species which could not be evaluated because of data limitations.

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