Silky shark tagging study reveals gaps in marine protected areas

Galápagos Marine Reserve a haven for silky sharks, but overfishing still looms large

Save Our Seas Foundation

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Although the silky shark is one of the ocean’s widest-ranging nomads, individuals tagged at Darwin and Wolf islands spend nearly half their time in the Galápagos Marine Reserve.

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Credit: Photo © James Lea

The limited range of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) offers reduced protection to vulnerable species such as the highly mobile silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis). Threatened by commercial fisheries and the global fin trade, more research is needed to understand their movements and how to improve levels of protection, a new study has found.

 

In the first assessment of its kind, ‘Pelagic sharks in parks: Marine protected areas in the Eastern Tropical Pacific provide limited protection to silky sharks tracked from the Galapagos Marine Reserve’, found that while the species spent less than half their time within the 133,000 square kilometre Galápagos Marine Reserve (GMR), they were tracked outside the relative safety of the MPAs for over half of the study period.

 

Listed as ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, global data has shown that overfishing has caused silky shark populations to decline by 47–54% in the last 30-40 years. Meanwhile, fins from silky sharks make up the second highest proportion, by species, impacted by the international fin trade.

 

As part of the international study, carried out by the Guy Harvey Research Institute, Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Research Centre, Charles Darwin Foundation, and the Galapagos National Park Directorate, a total of 40 silky sharks were tagged and their movements tracked by satellite technology over the course of nearly two years.

 

Jeremy Vaudo, Ph.D, of the Guy Harvey Research Institute and Save our Seas Foundation Shark Research Centre at Nova Southeastern University, and lead author of the study, published in Biological Conservation, has called for more research into the movements of silky sharks in order to better protect this vulnerable species.

 

He said: “According to our research, silky sharks spent around half their time outside of MPAs and made little use of recently established ones designed to protect areas thought to be a movement corridor of large pelagic species, including sharks.

 

“The study demonstrates that upon leaving the MPAs, they run the gauntlet of a range of threats including longline and purse-seine fisheries. They are among the most heavily fished shark species in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) ecoregion and not only are they a major victim of the global fin trade, but their tendency to spend time on the high seas outside of the region’s MPAs also puts them at risk of being incidentally taken as bycatch by industrial fishing fleets.

 

“Our current level of understanding is so limited we don’t even know where silky sharks mate or give birth. It is, therefore, vitally important for the scientific community to gain a much deeper understanding of their movement patterns, and those of other species of concern, and for improved fisheries management, in order to make the best decisions on where to designate future areas as MPAs.“

 

For the study, 40 adult silky sharks, (33 females, seven males), which can grow up to 3.5m in length, were tagged with fin-mounted satellite tags. Ten were tagged in February 2021 off Darwin Island, with a further 30 tagged in July 2021 (14 off Darwin Island and 16 off Wolf Island). On average they spent nearly 47% of their time in the GMR with comparatively little time spent in the region’s other, recently established, MPAs to the east.

 

Silky sharks are a nomadic species known to travel vast distances in the high seas. In one instance, a record-breaking silky shark, tagged at Wolf Island in 2021, recorded 27,666 kilometres (17,190 miles) of ocean travel in less than two years.

 

According to Dr. Mahmood Shivji, co-author of the study and director of the Guy Harvey Research Institute and Save our Seas Foundation Shark Research Centre, it reveals both positive, but also concerning, discoveries regarding the effectiveness of the current MPAs in the region, many of which are situated to the east of the GMR.

 

Dr. Shivji said: “The good news is that the silky sharks spent a substantial amount of time within the GMR, largely safeguarded from industrial fishing during this period. Concerning, however, is the discovery that the sharks, when deciding to migrate, preferentially travelled to the west and northwest rather than east of the GMR, ending up spending a lot of time in unprotected waters where a huge amount of industrial purse-seine and longline fishing occurs. These preferentially directional migrations point strongly to the wisdom of expanding MPAs to the west and northwest of the Galapagos, in addition to implementing other measures, to improve protection of this overfished species.”

 

Between 2010 and 2023, 53 MPAs were created in the Central and South American Pacific region, covering over 2.5 million km2 and making up 90% of the region’s MPA network. Furthermore, at the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), the governments of Panama, Ecuador, Colombia, and Costa Rica agreed to jointly create additional large MPAs.

 

The ETP supports many economically valuable ecosystem services, especially commercial fisheries, chief among them, tuna fisheries using purse seines and longlines. Both fishing methods have high levels of bycatch including marine mammals, sea birds, sea turtles, and sharks, many of which have experienced major population declines and are threatened with extinction. Silky sharks are particularly vulnerable to tuna-focussed purse-seine fisheries that use fish aggregating devices, which are large floating objects that attract fish in the open ocean.

 

“Our research also highlights that MPA networks by themselves are not going to be enough to revert ongoing silky shark population declines. MPAs need to be complimented by fisheries policies aimed at ensuring that industrial fishing fleets operating around MPAs, including within biological corridors, are sustainably managed. One third of pelagic sharks and rays are now threatened with extinction, it is time to implement recovery plans to improve their conservation status,’ commented Dr. Pelayo Salinas de León, Senior Marine Scientist of the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands and co-author of the study.

 

ENDS

 

Notes to Editor

 

Images, an infographic and photo credits can be found in this Google Drive folder

 

About the Save Our Seas Foundation

Founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2003, the Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF) is a philanthropic organisation whose ultimate goal is to create a legacy of securing the health and sustainability of our oceans, and the communities that depend on them, for generations to come.

Its support for research, conservation and education projects worldwide focuses on endangered sharks, rays and skates. Three permanent SOSF research and education centres reinforce its actions in Seychelles, South Africa and the USA.

Researchers from the Charles Darwin Foundation and Nova Southeastern University attach a satelite tag to a silky shark.

Credit

Photo © Pelayo Salinas | Charles Darwin Foundation

As open ocean (pelagic) nomads, silky sharks are easily captured in longline and purse-seine fisheries and even though they are not the target species, they are typically retained for their valuable meat and fins.

Credit

Photo © James Lea

A new publication cautions that marine protected areas in the Eastern Tropical Pacific region may currently provide limited protection for silky sharks, and that these sharks are at risk from overfishing where they roam outside them and on the high seas.

Credit

Map by Kelsey Dickson | © Save Our Seas Foundation

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Journal

Biological Conservation

DOI

10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111658 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Pelagic sharks in parks: Marine protected areas in the Eastern Tropical Pacific provide limited protection to silky sharks tracked from the Galapagos Marine Reserve

Article Publication Date

12-Jan-2026

 

Having autonomy in your life is more important in wealthier countries, says new research on well-being

A worldwide analysis reveals a nuanced relationship between happiness, volition and wealth

Aalto University

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Assistant Professor Frank Martela is Finland's leading expert on happiness.

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Credit: Aalto University / Nita Vera

Happiness and well-being depend on how much volition, choice and control people feel they have over their life—their sense of autonomy. Researchers have acknowledged this connection, but there’s been disagreement about whether it’s universal or simply a reflection of the situation in wealthier, more individualistic countries. Understanding this nuance would help policy-makers focus efforts to boost well-being where they matter most.

New research from Finland’s Aalto University has clarified how well-being is linked with autonomy, national wealth and the level of individualism in a culture. The researchers found that a sense of autonomy in one’s life is universally important, but the link with happiness is stronger in wealthier and more individualistic countries.

‘We found that autonomy is connected with well-being no matter what part of the world you look at, but there’s also a cultural element,’ says Frank Martela, a philosopher and psychology researcher at Aalto University known for his expertise on Finland’s happiness. ‘A sense of autonomy in your life matters more for well-being in rich, individualistic countries, like the Nordics, but it might be valued less in poorer countries where other factors are more pressing.’   

Martela explains that the study brings clarity to a long-standing debate.

‘There have been two views on autonomy. There’s a theory that autonomy is a universal human need, so it should be connected to well-being no matter the culture and individual preferences. Others have argued that autonomy is something especially valued in wealthy and individualist countries, while other needs are more important in other contexts. Our study basically shows that both are right.’

The researchers used per capita GDP (PPP) as the measure of a country’s wealth. To measure autonomy and well-being they used data from the World Values Survey, which interviewed nearly 100,000 people across 66 countries between 2017 and 2023. Well-being was evaluated based on the response to two questions, one about happiness and another about life satisfaction, and autonomy was based on “how much freedom of choice and control you feel you have over the way your life turns out”. By analysing all of these metrics together, the team could study whether national wealth influences the relationship between autonomy and well-being.

Determining the level of individualism or collectivism in a country wasn’t so simple. Research into the link between individualism and well-being has produced inconsistent results, largely because of issues with the metrics of individualism/collectivism. That’s why the team used a recently developed metric called the Global Collectivism Index. ‘Other metrics include things like good physical working conditions, which at face value have nothing to do with collectivism. The GCI focuses more on behavioural indicators of collectivism that can be objectively measured,’ explains Martela. For example, the index measure factors like shared transportation or shared households. ‘It’s also not perfect—there’s room for even more accurate measures—but it’s the best we’ve got right now,’ says Martela.

This new, more nuanced understanding can provide better guidance to help policy-makers improve well-being. ‘Because both autonomy and national wealth seem to be important predictors of well-being, the best advice depends a bit on the state of the country. If a country is very poor, then increasing the national wealth tends to be a good way of increasing well-being – especially if this gain in wealth is fairly distributed,’ says Martela. ‘But the richer a nation becomes, the more it should pay attention to autonomy.’

Martela points out that people’s sense of autonomy isn’t just a question of government oppression and legal freedoms. ‘Even work life can be something where people experience more or less autonomy,’ he says. ‘Since we know autonomy is a basic need, we should consider how we can support it on different levels and through different institutions in our societies.’

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Journal

Social Indicators Research

DOI

10.1007/s11205-025-03762-z 

Article Title

Autonomy is Associated with Well-being Across the World, but more Strongly in Wealthy and Individualistic Countries

 

Most people believe climate change primarily affects others

University of Gothenburg

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A meta-analysis of 83 studies, involving more than 70,000 participants from 17 countries, shows that climate-related risks are systematically underestimated and perceived as more likely to affect someone else rather than oneself. Sixty-five per cent of participants assessed their own risk of being affected by climate change as lower than that of others.

“The studies we have compiled do not measure people’s actual risk. We cannot determine whether individual risk assessments are overly optimistic, but at the group level we clearly see that the majority perceive their own risk as lower than that of others,” says Magnus Bergquist, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Gothenburg.

Who people compare themselves with matters

A central question in the study concerned whom people compare themselves with. The results show that the choice of reference group plays a significant role, and that risk assessments are most distorted when people compare themselves with ‘general others’, such as fellow citizens or humanity as a whole, as well as in countries with lower overall climate risk.

The researchers observed the effect in Europe, the United States and Asia, but the discrepancy was most pronounced among Europeans.

Experience leads to a more realistic assessment

Eighty-one of the 83 studies included in the meta-analysis showed that participants rated their own risk as lower than that of others or lower than the average, both in relation to extreme weather events and more general climate-related risks.

“We found the effect in all but two studies, where participants were farmers in China and South Korea who had been directly exposed to the consequences of climate change. This suggests that direct experience reduces the effect,” explains Pär Bjälkebring, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Gothenburg.

Misjudged risk delays climate action

Overall, the results of the meta-analysis on how people perceive climate-related risks indicate that our understanding is limited and flawed, which may delay necessary action.

“Even when people recognise the real risks posed by climate change, many seem to perceive these risks as primarily affecting others. This is a psychological bias that, in the worst case, can slow down both climate adaptation and mitigation efforts,” says Magnus Bergquist.

Contact

• Magnus Bergquist, Senior Lecturer in Psychology
  Phone: +46 (0)70 249 25 13
  Email: magnus.bergquist@psy.gu.se
• Pär Bjälkebring, Senior Lecturer in Psychology
  Phone: +46 (0)31 786 16 65
  Email: par.bjalkebring@psy.gu.se

Study

• Meta-analytical Evidence of a Self–Other Discrepancy in Climate Change-related Risk Perceptions, published in Nature Sustainability

Facts

• Authors: Magnus Bergquist, University of Gothenburg; Isak Sandlund, University of Gävle; Pär Bjälkebring, University of Gothenburg
• Funding: Swedish Research Council Formas (project number 2022–01871)
• Research group: DEEP (Decision Making and Judgement, Environmental Psychology and Economic Psychology) https://www.gu.se/en/research/decision-making-environmental-economic-and-political-psychology

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Journal

Nature Sustainability

DOI

10.1038/s41893-025-01717-3 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Meta-analytical evidence of a self–other discrepancy in climate change-related risk perceptions

Article Publication Date

8-Jan-2026

 

New “humane intelligence” framework guides safer, more patient-centered AI in older-adult mental health care

“Moral Grid Operational Index” translates the four pillars of Humane Intelligence into practical point-of-care safeguards

Boston University School of Medicine

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Why it matters: AI already shapes access, triage, and support for older adults, but governance often focuses on algorithms and infrastructure rather than real patient and caregiver experience.
• What’s new: A clinician-researcher-led framework (“Humane Intelligence”) plus a Moral Grid Operational Index that makes ethical principles operational with clear actions, oversight, and auditable evidence.
• What it protects: Transparency patients can understand, consent appropriate to cognitive vulnerability, clinician accountability for high-stakes decisions, and monitoring of outcomes that matter (such as function, distress, caregiver burden, avoidable utilization, equity).

 

(Boston)—Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used to identify older adults for services, support people between visits, and guide referrals and care pathways. Yet much AI governance still emphasizes algorithms and infrastructure rather than what older adults and caregivers actually experience -- especially in moments of vulnerability.

 

A Special Article in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry led by Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine clinician-researcher Helen H. Kyomen, MD, MS, offers a new, geriatric psychiatry–led “Humane Intelligence” framework to help clinicians and health systems augment older-adult care with AI in ways that are safe, fair, and deeply human.

 

Humane Intelligence is a patient-centered, ethically attuned, clinically grounded relational framework for designing, evaluating, and monitoring AI in older-adult care. It rests on four pillars, Relational Intelligence, Transparency with Care, Reciprocity and Consent, and Ethical Governance in Strategic Regions, and applies them from point-of-care encounters to system-level decisions.

 

To translate these principles into day-to-day practice, the article introduces the Moral Grid Operational Index, which links each pillar to concrete, observable point-of-care behaviors and the kinds of evidence that show those behaviors occurred. It is intended to help teams evaluate who benefits, who is at risk, and what safeguards are needed as AI tools move from routine uses to higher-stakes settings.

 

“In simple terms, we gathered what is known, added clinical wisdom, and shaped it into tools people can actually use,” explains Kyomen, corresponding author and assistant professor of psychiatry at Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine and Medical Director of the Boston Medical Center-Brighton Geriatric Psychiatry Program.

 

The article synthesizes current guidance and real-world clinical experience to propose an operational framework – illustrated with composite case examples built from common patterns, not identifiable patients – rather than reporting results from a single AI tool trial.

 

The authors developed the framework by:

 

•           Reviewing recent national and international guidance on AI in health care.

•           Drawing on clinical experience in geriatric psychiatry and aging care.

•           Considering how AI is already being used with older adults (for example, tools that detect falls, screen for cognitive concerns, assist with documentation, or act as digital companions).

•           Translating this into a practical Humane Intelligence framework with four pillars and a Moral Grid Operational Index.

•           Working through realistic composite case examples to ensure the framework offers clear guidance in everyday situations.

 

Clinically, the framework emphasizes that a responsible human clinician remains accountable for high-stakes decisions, and that fully automated older-adult mental health care is discouraged. It encourages plain-language explanations so patients and caregivers know when AI is involved and what it can and cannot do. It also urges health systems to track outcomes that matter to older adults and families, including day-to-day function, emotional distress, caregiver burden, avoidable emergency visits or hospitalizations, and fairness across different groups.

 

“Our hope is that this work helps health systems augment care with AI in ways that make care for older adults kinder, safer, and more personal, not colder or more mechanical,” Kyomen said. “If we get this right, AI can support better decisions and earlier help while protecting trust, accountability, and the human bond at the center of care.”

 

Journal reference:

Kyomen HH (on behalf of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry Committee on Aging). “Humane Intelligence in Geropsychiatric Care: Relational Artificial Intelligence, Clinical Wisdom, and the Moral Grid Operational Index.” The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry (Article in Press; abstract available online ahead of print).

Abstract link:
https://www.ajgponline.org/article/S1064-7481(25)00567-6/abstract

DOI: 10.1016/j.jagp.2025.12.012

Full text available via ScienceDirect (subscription/institutional access may be required)

More details at: https://blogs.bu.edu/hhkyomen/humane-intelligence-aam/

 

Note: This clinical ethics and governance framework shares its name with a U.S. nonprofit called Humane Intelligence but is not affiliated with that organization.

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Journal

American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

DOI

10.1016/j.jagp.2025.12.012 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Humane Intelligence in Geropsychiatric Care: Relational Artificial Intelligence, Clinical Wisdom, and the Moral Grid Operational Index