Drivers of elasmobranch catch are site and fishery specific: Insights from a comparative assessment of fisheries across the east and west coasts of India

Capture in nearshore fisheries is the leading threat to coastal elasmobranchs, of which more than 75 % are threatened with extinction globally. Limited knowledge of these highly dynamic fisheries impedes the design and implementation of stakeholder-inclusive policies for conservation. To address this, we developed an interdisciplinary approach, combining landing data with fishing geo-locations, Very High resolution (VHR) satellite imagery and fisher interviews to model elasmobranch catch dynamics and map areas of high catch potential. We compared how elasmobranch catch rates varied by species ecology, habitat, and fisheries characteristics in Visakhapatnam and Malvan, two regions on the east and west coasts of India, respectively. We sampled 2209 fishing trips across three oceanographic seasons from landing sites at both locations in 2022-23. We recorded 5578 elasmobranchs from >20 species of which at least 13 were categorised as ‘Threatened’. Gillnets, hook and line and trawl nets were the most common gears, but their use and catch rates varied considerably. Elasmobranchs had a higher catch risk on the eastern site (where they may be specifically targeted) and were generally larger. Catch rates were higher in shallow regions on the west coast and in the summer at both sites. Importantly, we demonstrate that drivers of elasmobranch catch were site and fishery specific, underscoring the need for more local-scale research for planning conservation actions. Our framework provides a robust method to study the highly dynamic and diverse nature of nearshore fisheries, which can inform conservation actions and, at the same, time, enable a bottom-up approach to conserving elasmobranchs.