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the Mediterranean have also fallen by 99.99 per cent compared with previous numbers. For the rest of the top 20 predators, records were not comprehensive enough to plot a trend, though declines were evident. That may be because their decline began even earlier, when records were even more sparse, the researchers believe. “This study will hopefully contribute to a greater threat status for hammerheads and blue sharks, and other assessments in the Mediterranean,” he said. Conservationists have long campaigned for better protection for sharks and rays, which have not traditionally been considered by organisations that regulate fisheries. But rapidly developing economies in Asia are boosting demand for shark fins as a culinary delicacy, putting sharks increasingly within fishermen’s sights. A recent report from Australia found that shark fins reached a price 30 to 40 times by weight compared with the rest of the fish, making them a lucrative target. The new Mediterranean study highlights the increasing human pressure on marine species. “In addition to large predatory sharks, cetaceans, pinnipeds, turtles and large bony fishes have declined similarly,” the authors write.