Can opportunistic methodologies provide information on elasmobranchs? A case study from Seas around Turkey
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22120/jwb.2020.136094.1185Keywords:
Data collection, sharks, rays, the Mediterranean Sea, the Black SeaAbstract
Research on shark and ray species in Turkey is limited and mostly conducted by destructive methods. Unfortunately, many of these species are threatened or near extinction, and still, there are many species with limited or no information. This fact raises concern on what method of research should be conducted on elasmobranchs with conservation in mind. And this initiated the idea of non-lethal or opportunistic sampling methodologies for obtaining required knowledge. Collecting genetic information without additional pressure by lethal approaches, using the latest technology from other disciplines, citizen science to learn about spatial-temporal distribution or population dynamics, and collecting bycatch individuals with no usage can be listed among the most popular methodologies. This study aimed to show how effective were opportunistic methods to obtain information on these threatened species without adding more sampling pressure on their populations.
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