For many shark species, survival depends on much more than what happens in the open ocean. The earliest months and years of life are often spent in sheltered coastal habitats that offer food, protection, and suitable conditions for growth. These areas, known as shark nurseries, have long been recognized as important, but until recently there had been no global picture of where they are located and how they are being used.
A new, open access review published in Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries brings together evidence from 538 peer-reviewed studies, identifying 443 shark nurseries across 62 countries and documenting their use by 94 shark species. The result is the most comprehensive synthesis of shark nursery habitats assembled to date, providing a valuable reference for researchers, conservation practitioners, and policymakers working on shark conservation.
The study shows that most shark nurseries are found in nearshore environments, particularly bays, estuaries, lagoons, and river systems. Mangroves emerged as especially important in tropical regions, while seagrass meadows and macroalgal habitats were also common features of nursery areas worldwide. These habitats often support multiple shark species at the same time, suggesting that protecting a single nursery can benefit entire coastal shark communities.
Habitat change and fishing pressure
One finding that stands out is the persistence of many nursery areas. A substantial proportion have been used repeatedly across decades and by numerous generations of juvenile sharks. At the same time, the authors report evidence that some nurseries have experienced declines or even local losses of sharks, often linked to habitat alteration and fishing pressure.
The review also highlights how much remains unknown. Based on the authors' analyses, more than a third of shark nurseries worldwide may still be undocumented, and many shark species have yet to be evaluated for nursery habitat use. Knowledge gaps are particularly evident in regions that have received less research attention, including parts of the Indian Ocean, the Indo-Pacific, Western Africa, and South America.
As efforts to conserve sharks increasingly move beyond individual species and toward the protection of essential habitats, understanding where young sharks grow and develop becomes ever more important. This review provides a global foundation for that work, offering both a synthesis of what is currently known and a roadmap for future research in regions and species that remain understudied.