Protecting shark nursery areas is critical for species conservation and the welfare of juvenile sharks, whose early life stages are particularly vulnerable to human impacts.
Juvenile sharks in nursery habitats are at a critical life stage - they are learning to hunt, developing social awareness and building the physical capacity to survive open ocean life. Habitat degradation or destruction during this period condemns animals to death or severely impaired survival. From a welfare perspective, protecting nursery habitats is one of the highest-impact interventions for shark populations because it protects the most vulnerable individuals during the most vulnerable period. It also avoids the suffering associated with bycatch capture, handling and discard mortality.