Human Interactions
Throughout their range, substantial quantities of velvet bellies are caught as bycatch in bottom trawls meant for shrimp and lobsters, and deepwater longlines meant for other fish. Lacking commercial value, these sharks are almost always discarded with extremely high mortality, though occasionally they are dried and salted or made into fishmeal. The IUCN has listed the velvet belly under Least Concern overall, as its population remains stable across much of its range, and it is afforded some protection in the Mediterranean from a 2005 ban on bottom trawling below 1,000 m (3,300 ft). However, in the northeastern Atlantic it has been assessed as Near Threatened, as its numbers have declined by almost 20% from 1970 to 1998–2004. The slow reproductive rate of this species limits its capacity to recover from population depletion.
Read more about this topic: Velvet Belly Lanternshark
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