We are pleased to share a significant advancement in our small shark capture project. The local project team has formally partnered with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), a national organisation responsible for coordinating biodiversity assessments across South Africa's national parks, botanical gardens, and coastlines.

SANBI is currently mapping shark distributions along the South African coastline, and we are proud that our 2025 dataset has been included as part of this national collaboration. Our data contributes to their GIS-based analyses, which identify species-specific hotspots and assess overlap with high-risk areas such as fishing zones and trawling grounds. Through this partnership, we are actively contributing to efforts that highlight species diversity along the coastline and raise awareness for endangered and threatened shark species.

SANBI's National Biodiversity Assessment (NBA) can be viewed here: https://nba.sanbi.org.za/content/marine/marine_overview.html#species-assessments.

While our data is not displayed independently, it forms part of the collective national dataset used in these assessments. This collaboration represents a major step in ensuring that the data we collect reaches both the public and national decision-making platforms. Through SANBI, our assessments are used to motivate the establishment of conservation areas and no-catch zones, reinforcing the applied conservation value of our work.