Sharks and their relatives, the rays and chimaeras, are the diverse group of cartilaginous fishes that have evolved over 400 million years. Historically considered of low economic value to large-scale fisheries, today many of these fishes have become the target of directed commercial and recreational fisheries around the world, and they are increasingly taken in the by-catch of fisheries targeting other species.
Drawing on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the world's most objective and authoritative inventory of species at risk of extinction, this publication combines awe-inspiring imagery with solid science and factual accounts. The result of a collaboration between industry and science, this dramatic new work conveys to the general public the urgency and scale of the current extinction crisis.