Prelude to the Angel Shark Extinction

The angel shark was once discarded as a nuisance species by halibut gillnet fishermen prior to the 1980s. From several decades of insignificance, the angel sharks extinct classification today was precipitated by its phenomenal distinction as the most sought-after commercial shark species in the Santa Barbara Channel in the 1980s. A big factor in such giant leap in stature is the change in consumer acceptance of sharks as high-quality food fish. Another important influence to such a remarkable change is the concentrated marketing stance by pioneering but innovative food processor and entrepreneur, Michael Wagner.

Wagner coordinated with the local fishermen to stimulate development of angel shark fishery in the Santa Barbara area. The ensuing developments became known in ecosystem history as the prelude to the near extinction of the angel sharks. It may certainly be stated that the rapid growth of the fishery led to the angel sharks extinct status based on a nature conservation body.

Development of any kind has its good and bad side. For the ecological balance, the angel shark industry was a death blow to the Squatinidae family. To the food processing industry, the angel shark phenomenon is a great lesson in operational innovations. Accordingly, growth was premised on two elements:

•     Quality control brought about by the maintenance of shark meat freshness; and

•     Operational efficiency in terms of developing fillet methods acceptable to both distributors and consumers.

As the demand for angel shark meat grew, more and more of them were supplied primarily using the gillnet method. Demand for this shark dramatically ballooned because practically every part of the fish can be used with the exception of the tail and the cartilage. Landings of angel shark exceeded one million pounds in the mid-1980s. It has replaced the thresher shark as the top food shark.

By 1987, landings declined not because demand decreased but because resources were scant. Decline in angel shark population continued brought about by fishery and worsened by the threats from other fusing methods and human activities to their natural habitat. The road to extinction draws near unless conservation efforts are put in place.

By the 1990s, landings steadily dwindled. Meanwhile, research on angel sharks began in the 1980s. Cooperative research and information gathered led to the development of regulatory guidelines in the form of co-management. The industry players were, however, amenable that regulation came in too late- the ecological imbalance was irreversible.

The boom in the shark food processing was not counter-balanced with measures to maintain sustainability. Biological knowledge on the location of the Pacific species revealed that these sharks are endemic to the eastern Pacific Ocean from southern Alaska to the Gulf of California, as well as from Ecuador to Chile. The angel sharks are imperiled by extinction since they have vanished from the identified locations.

The angel sharks are critically endangered to the point of extinction. Man failed to act in time to balance the surge in fishery of the resource. The basic cliché about the crucial need for prevention instead of a cure or intervention, indeed, was not made in due time. The initial decreases in landings hinted of the decline in the particular shark population.