Giving guitarfish a chance: one man’s mission to persuade fishers to farm giant snails instead

Heliciculture – growing land snails for human consumption or cosmetic use – is a profitable industry with low environmental impact. Photograph: Anadolu/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Guitarfish are an odd-looking and ancient species, with the tail of a shark and the flattened body of a ray, but their coveted fins have driven populations to the brink of extinction. In west Africa, where their meat is also a local delicacy, many guitarfish species are among the most critically endangered fish in the ocean.

Conservationists at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) describe the slow-maturing ray, which produce young annually, as an “indicator species”, which reflect the overall health of an ecosystem and pose challenges in the way coastal fishing of them is managed. The IUCN red list categorises more than half of guitarfish species as critically endangered.