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2 A. B. M. MOORE ET AL. 29° Iraq Kuwait Sharq Fahaheel Shatt al Arab Iran Iraq Saudi Arabia Red Sea Yemen Gulf of Aden Iran Pakistan Gulf Oman Gulf of Oman Arabian Sea 26° Bahrain Saudi Arabia Doha Qatar Al Khor The Gulf Abu Dhabi Strait of Hormuz Gulf of Oman 0 50 100 km 200 U.A.E. Oman 49° 53° 56° Fig. 1. Map of The Gulf showing political boundaries and the locations sampled during the current survey. research is lacking in the Indian Ocean, despite high and increasing reported landings (Anderson & Simpfendorfer, 2005). In Arabian waters, Oman has led the efforts to characterize the diversity, biology and fisheries of its elasmobranch fauna in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, both through landings-based and fisheries-independent data (Henderson et al., 2006, 2007, 2009; Henderson & Reeve, 2011). The elasmobranchs of The Gulf (Fig. 1) have received little attention, however, and are poorly understood (Moore, 2011). A number of concerns about Gulf elasmobranchs have been highlighted including the role of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) as major contributors to global elasmobranch landings and shark-fin exports, respectively, a possible increase in demand for meat and cartilage locally, as well as a possible fisheries-related change in elasmobranch community composition along the Iranian coast since the 1970s (Moore, 2011). In addition to research efforts, since 1999, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has encouraged all states catching elasmobranchs in either targeted or by-catch fisheries to voluntarily participate in the International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks (IPOA-Sharks) and to have developed a ‘Shark-Plan’ by 2001 (FAO, 1999). The IPOA-Sharks is aimed at ensuring the sustainable use of all chondrichthyans and places particular emphasis on the importance of catch data to support this aim (FAO, 1999). All of The Gulf states (i.e. Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E.; excluding Oman here, whose coastline is largely non-Gulf) operate a range of fisheries for teleosts and invertebrates, including extensive gillnetting (Bishop, 2002). In addition, there are some reports of targeted elasmobranch fisheries in Gulf waters of the U.A.E. (Anderson & Simpfendorfer, 2005). As such, all Gulf states can be assumed to be © 2012 The Authors Journal of Fish Biology © 2012 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles, Journal of Fish Biology 2012, doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.2011.03210.x
ELASMOBRANCHS IN KUWAIT, QATAR AND ABU DHABI 3 catching elasmobranchs to some degree in their fishing activities, although to date none have adopted a Shark-Plan (FAO, 2011a). Kuwait and Qatar have either not reported elasmobranch landings or reported zero values to the FAO (FAO, 2011b). The U.A.E. has reported landings to the FAO since 1986 (FAO, 2011b), and Abu Dhabi Emirate publishes data on elasmobranch landings (by port, gear and vessel type, and month) as part of annual fisheries statistics (Environmental Research & Wildlife Development Agency, 2005; Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, 2010). The value of these data in assessing the composition of elasmobranch landings is compromised, however, by broad and unspecified reporting, such as of ‘sharks and rays’ or similar broad taxonomic groupings. Given the concerns noted above and the paucity of data and management locally, there is a clear need for basic information on the diversity, size composition, reproductive biology and fisheries of Gulf elasmobranchs (Moore, 2011). Surveys of fish markets and landing sites have provided a rapid and relatively inexpensive source of important data for elasmobranchs elsewhere on a range of aspects including reproductive biology, fisheries and new species (White & Dharmadi, 2007; Bizarro et al., 2009; Last et al., 2010a). In order to address local data gaps, the current paper reports species, size and sex composition, male maturity and fisheries of elasmobranchs recorded at landing sites and markets at three locations approximately equidistant along the Arabian coastline of The Gulf, i.e. Kuwait (north-western Gulf), Qatar (southern) and Abu Dhabi Emirate, of the U.A.E. (south-eastern) (Fig. 1). The results comprise the first major survey of elasmobranch diversity, biology and fisheries in The Gulf and form an important addition to knowledge on the relatively poorly known status of elasmobranchs in the western Indian Ocean. STUDY REGION MATERIALS AND METHODS The Gulf (Fig. 1) is a shallow (average depth 35 m), semi-enclosed offshoot of the northwest Indian Ocean, connected to the much deeper Gulf of Oman (>3000 m), and subsequently the Arabian Sea, through the narrow Strait of Hormuz. The Gulf is a harsh environment, and in some cases can be subject to extremes of water temperature (4–39 ◦ C) and salinity (brackish to >70); the single major freshwater input discharges into the north-west Gulf through the Shatt al Arab near northern Kuwait (Sheppard et al., 1992; Carpenter et al., 1997). In general, coastal waters of Qatar and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (the largest in the U.A.E.) are characterized by extensive shallows of
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