Shark Month: Meet Fisheries Scientist Dr. Brit Finucci

Brit is a fisheries scientist with eight years of experience working in the deep-sea environment. She has extensive experience collecting biological samples and conducting laboratory analyses for life history and ecological studies on protected and non-target catch species. Brit has completed quantitative fisheries analyses and risk assessments to monitor the impact of fishing on the marine environment, and has experience with Bayesian, spatio-temporal, and species distribution modelling. Brit is the Chair of the Deepwater Chondrichthyan Working Group and Red List Authority Coordinator for the IUCN Shark Special Group and has been invited on global expert panels as a deep-sea representative for shark conservation and management initiatives. As of 2024, she has published over 90 publications and scientific reports, as well as two book chapters on deep-sea

chondrichthyans. 

Follow Brit HERE

Brit on a shark research cruise

1. What is your favorite species of shark and why? What is your favorite species of chimaera and why?

Favourite shark - Easy! The prickly dogfish. It was the first deep-sea shark I ever worked on, so they have a special place in my heart. I also love how ridiculously cartoonish they look, and yet they are fearsome predators feeding on the eggs of other cartilaginous fish. ( We LOVE them too)

Brit with a prickly dogfish

Download our Prickly Dogfish fact poster HERE

Favourite chimaera - Harder question to answer. Currently, I'm working on a very large (nearly as long as I'm tall!) species that we're having trouble identifying. This species is pure black with massive pectoral fins. I can only imagine how stunning they look underwater at the bottom of the ocean. 

Learn more about chimaeras HERE

2. What is one species of either shark or chimaera you would love to see/swim with/study?

I would love to go diving in the Norwegian fjords - there are certain places and times of the year when you can see chimaeras and lantern sharks. I imagine it'll be awfully cold though....

3. Can you tell us a little about your current work? 

Currently, I am working on a project that involves tagging deepwater sharks to measure their survival rates after capture and release. Most deepwater sharks are caught in fisheries incidentally (as bycatch) and are often discarded (released) because they either have no commercial value or fishers are not allowed to keep them. However, we have no idea if sharks survive after they are released. My project is working with fisheries observer to put satellite tags on deepwater sharks caught as bycatch and then release the sharks so we can measure two main things:

1) shark survival and 2) if the shark survives, what are their habitat preferences (what depth and temperature do they live at).

4. What inspired you to follow this path? Did you expect to be studying amazing deep sea animals like chimaeras?

Not at all! I was volun-told to go study deepsea sharks by my mentor and good friend. At the time, I wanted to work on data-poor species where I could make an impact on their conservation and management, and I asked him for some advice. He handed me a report on deep-sea sharks in New Zealand and told me to work on that group. The report was full of these scanned images of creatures that didn't look like your typical shark, and I had no interest. But I took his advice, went out to sea on a research voyage, and immediately fell in love with all the weird and wonderful creatures of the deep ocean. And here we are over a decade later. 

Brit analyzing deep she shark specimen in the lab

5. What is one thing you wish everyone knew about sharks?

Deepwater sharks are the best sharks (obviously). 

Learn more about deep-sea sharks HERE