The trade industry for nautiluses and the need for their conservation

Abstract

Decades of intense and unregulated fishing of nautiluses (Allonautilus and Nautilus) have resulted in collapsed fisheries, degraded local economies, the depletion of a lineage that has existed for over 500 million years, and impacts to an ecosystem that is vastly understudied. As early as the 1980s, there were anecdotal reports of population collapse and local extinction, which were later quantified with scientific data in the 2010s. These data led to the first international regulations of the nautilus shell trade in 2017 as an attempt to limit the depletion of nautilus populations. However, little has been published in the way of conservation intervention outcomes to help protect nautiluses from overexploitation. Nautiluses are representative of a unique curio item as their products are primarily made for the tourist trade and are somewhat under the radar. Though, the life history strategies of nautiluses of delayed maturity, low fecundity, and long developmental time signify that that group is inherently vulnerable to unregulated pressure on the population. There is a need to promote a public understanding of the sensitivities of nautiluses to overfishing, as well as a need for effective population monitoring and enforceable management strategies for nautilus fisheries. Here, we suggest a potential model for a nautilus management strategy that considers the nautiluses and their ecosystems, as well as the local communities.