Bycatch in commercial fisheries threatens sharks, rays, and skates. Bycatch is the unintentional capture of non-target species, and fisheries targeting tuna and billfish have a high impact on sharks. Rays and skates are mainly bottom dwellers greatly impacted by bottom trawl fisheries, which also impact bottom dwelling sharks.

1. Bycatch
Bycatch in commercial fisheries is also a major
threat. Bycatch is the unintentional capture of a non-
target species. Fisheries targeting tuna and billfish in
particular have a high impact on sharks.
Rays and skates are also under threat from
unintentional capture in commercial fisheries. They
are greatly impacted by bottom trawl fisheries as
they are mainly bottom dwellers. Bottom dwelling
sharks are also impacted by this fishery.