AFBI - Marine - Elasmobranch distribution (Metadata)

Collation and analysis of a comprehensive range of data on elasmobranchs in Northern Ireland waters, ranging from scientific trawl and other research surveys (AFBI and other UK and Irish laboratories) through published and unpublished records of recreational captures, to anecdotal information from a diverse group of angling and fishing experts. A key element of the data collation exercise was extracting information from these diverse sources and analysing/presenting it in spatial and temporal format by species (where available), so that spatial and temporal trends in status could be described. Additional information was available from the 2008 assessment of the status of elasmobranchs in the Celtic Seas Ecoregion, published by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and a report by the IUCN Shark Specialist Group on the conservation status of Northeast Atlantic chondrichthyans (Gibson et al., 2008). These and other data from scientific surveys in adjacent sea areas provided a wider regional perspective for the local analyses.