Blue Shark Central is located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, south-west of the Azores Islands, and is a key oceanic habitat for mature male and female blue sharks in the North Atlantic. It represents an area in international waters where this species aggregates, and is an important open ocean hotspot of occurrence for the North Atlantic population, particularly for pregnant blue sharks. Blue sharks are IUCN Red listed as Near Threatened with an unknown population status, underscoring the need to protect this area and the sharks that inhabit it.
