A new study has shown that social media and citizen science platforms can play a crucial role in tracking the consumption of sharks and rays in India, revealing patterns and species records that traditional scientific surveys often miss. By analysing thousands of online posts shared over nearly two decades, researchers uncovered evidence of widespread interaction with rare, endangered, and legally protected marine species along India’s coast.
The research was conducted by scientists associated with InSeason Fish, an initiative that promotes sustainable seafood consumption, and universities in India and abroad. The study examined 1,293 posts related to sharks and rays uploaded between 2004 and 2022 across six platforms, including social media and citizen science websites. These posts originated from all of India’s coastal states and reflected a wide range of human interactions with marine life, from fish markets and landing sites to restaurants and tourism hotspots.
The analysis identified 83 elasmobranch species in total, including 37 shark species and 46 ray species. Reef-associated sharks and coastal-dwelling sharks and rays appeared most frequently. Alarmingly, nearly 15 percent of the species documented were classified as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. A further 29 percent were listed as endangered, while more than 30 percent were considered vulnerable.
The study traces its origins to the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, when researchers were unable to visit fish landing centres and seafood markets due to movement restrictions. Turning to social media out of necessity, they found a sudden surge of images posted by fishers, tourists, seafood consumers, and restaurant patrons. Many photographs showed sharks and rays in markets, on plates, or in the background of casual selfies, offering unexpected insight into everyday interactions that are rarely captured by formal research.
India is one of the world’s largest contributors to shark and ray fisheries, ranking second globally for shark catches and among the top nations for ray fishing. Much of this consumption is domestic, driven by markets and restaurants, particularly in states such as Goa and Tamil Nadu. Previous studies have shown that the demand for elasmobranch meat encourages bycatch fisheries, where sharks and rays caught incidentally are retained and sold rather than released.
What sets this study apart is its ability to reveal social and cultural dimensions of shark and ray use. Researchers found that most online posts referred to these animals as food rather than as wildlife of conservation concern. Mentions of conservation status were relatively rare, although posts that did highlight conservation issues tended to receive high public engagement. Smaller sharks and rays were often portrayed neutrally, while larger species such as manta rays and bull sharks were more likely to attract sympathetic reactions.
The study also uncovered biases in how marine life is represented online. Even when rays appeared prominently in images, captions frequently referred only to sharks, suggesting that rays remain underrepresented in public perception. This imbalance, researchers say, is often overlooked in traditional scientific surveys that focus primarily on catch data rather than cultural attitudes.
Importantly, the researchers documented several species protected under India’s Wildlife Protection Amendment Act of 2022, including whale sharks, hammerhead sharks, manta rays, guitarfish, and wedgefish. However, among the most commonly consumed species identified through social media posts, only one was legally protected, pointing to gaps between conservation laws and everyday fishing practices.
Scientists involved in the study argue that government landing surveys, while valuable, are limited to specific ports and harbours and cannot fully capture the diversity of species being caught across thousands of informal landing sites along India’s vast coastline. Social media, they say, offers a complementary lens, providing real-time, geographically diverse insights into fishing, consumption, and public perception.
Experts caution that digital data must be used carefully, as social media users represent a self-selecting group. However, many agree that such platforms can reveal rare species sightings and changing human attitudes that formal surveys may miss. In some cases, endangered species that had not appeared in scientific records for years were recently observed in online posts.
The findings also highlight the deep cultural and livelihood ties between coastal communities and elasmobranch species. For many fishers, sharks and rays are not just a source of food or income but are closely linked to identity, tradition, and local ecological knowledge. Researchers stress that conservation efforts must acknowledge these realities if they are to succeed.
The study concludes that social media and citizen science platforms are valuable tools for understanding the complex relationship between people and marine species in India. By combining digital data with traditional field research, scientists hope to build a more accurate and socially informed picture of shark and ray conservation challenges in the country.