The Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) comprising the coasts of Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador, represents an area of high marine biodiversity that supports productive fisheries and acts as an important migratory corridor for many marine species. Despite its biological importance, the ETP is understudied and lacks sufficient data for science-based fisheries management and conservation decision-making. This study aims to consolidate understanding of the current and historical distribution of sharks and mobulid rays in the ETP. We used interviews of coastal community stakeholders to document local fishers’ knowledge of shark and mobulid ray species and distributions. We also analysed small-scale fisheries landings data, where available, to quantify local exploitation patterns and the importance of sharks and rays in small-scale fisheries catches. All shark species landed in the dominant nearshore gillnet fishery show very low mean individuals weights (<5 kg), indicating that catches are dominated by juveniles. Aside from smooth-hounds (Mustelus spp.), the scalloped hammerhead shark, Sphyrna lewini, is the most frequently landed shark species in the region by weight and number, with peaks in abundance between April–July. From 132 interviews in 51 communities across the three countries, and landings data from two small-scale fisheries sites, we identified 41 sites in 12 broad geographical zones as important shark nursery habitats. Of these sites, 68% were associated closely with large mangrove systems of the ETP, highlighting the importance of this habitat for shark life history. No patterns were seen in the occurrence or distribution of mobulid rays in coastal areas. Marine protected areas and responsible fishing zones covered 37% of identified nursery habitats in the ETP, 30% in Costa Rica, 48% in Panama and 30% in Colombia. These findings provide an important benchmark for shark conservation in the ETP and allow for the prioritisation of research and management.

东热带太平洋 (ETP) 包括哥斯达黎加、巴拿马、哥伦比亚和厄瓜多尔的海岸，是一个海洋生物多样性丰富的地区，支持生产性渔业，并作为许多海洋物种的重要洄游走廊。尽管具有生物学重要性，但 ETP 尚未得到充分研究，并且缺乏用于基于科学的渔业管理和保护决策的足够数据。本研究旨在巩固对 ETP 中鲨鱼和鳐鱼当前和历史分布的了解。我们通过对沿海社区利益相关者的采访来记录当地渔民对鲨鱼和鳐鱼种类和分布的了解。我们还分析了小规模渔业上岸量数据（如果有），量化当地的开发模式以及鲨鱼和鳐鱼在小规模渔业捕捞中的重要性。在占主导地位的近岸刺网渔业中登陆的所有鲨鱼物种均显示出非常低的平均个体重量（<5 公斤），表明捕捞量以幼鱼为主。除了光滑的猎犬（Mustelus spp.)，扇形双髻鲨，Sphyrna lewini，按重量和数量计算，是该地区最常上岸的鲨鱼物种，在 4 月至 7 月之间达到高峰。通过对三个国家 51 个社区的 132 次访谈以及来自两个小型渔业站点的上岸数据，我们确定了 12 个广泛地理区域中的 41 个站点是重要的鲨鱼繁殖栖息地。在这些地点中，68% 与 ETP 的大型红树林系统密切相关，突出了该栖息地对鲨鱼生活史的重要性。在沿海地区没有发现mobulid射线的发生或分布模式。海洋保护区和负责任的捕鱼区覆盖了 ETP 中 37% 已确定的苗圃栖息地，哥斯达黎加为 30%，巴拿马为 48%，哥伦比亚为 30%。