NURSERY AREAS/PUPPING GROUNDS

Dateline 30-03-2010.

SCS scientific advisor for Arabia, Alec Moore, has pointed out that the terms "nursery area" and "pupping ground" are not precisely agreed by scientists in respect of what does and does not define such areas. This is a topic of debate and has been for some time, and previously scientists have described areas as shark nurseries based only on the presence of a few young sharks.

Australian scientists have suggested that for an area to be called "nursery" it should conform to all three of the following criteria.

1) Young sharks are more common in the area than elsewhere

2) Young sharks have a tendency to remain or return for extended periods (i.e. site fidelity, not just passing through)

3) That the area or habitat is used repeatedly across years

SCS does not wish to use terms inaccurately or be misleading, therefore in future the areas in which we have found juvenile sharks in both the Adriatic and the Gulf will be described by SCS as "suspected" pupping/nursery areas.

However the lack of an agreed definition by scientists will not inhibit SCS from seeking protection measures for such "suspected" areas. If opportunities to stop or limit unsustainable mortality of juvenile sharks present themselves then it would be irresponsible for a conservation society not to take them due to the lack of agreement by scientists on a definition.