Krefft's Skate (Malacoraja kreffti) is a small (to 60 cm total length) deepwater skate that occurs in the Northeast Atlantic from Iceland to southwest Ireland. It is a poorly-known demersal species occurring on the continental slope and submarine rises at depths of 1,000–1,500 m. It occurs beyond the depth of deepwater commercial trawl and gillnet fisheries, given that there are regulations across a large part of the species range to prohibit trawl fishing and gillnet fishing at depths below 800 m and 200 m, respectively. Thus, it is not currently threatened by commercial trawl or gillnet fisheries. Prior to the depth prohibitions, it was an occasional incidental catch of deepwater fisheries. It is an infrequent catch in deepwater research trawl surveys around Iceland and west of Scotland with the catches consistently ranging from 0–3 individuals annually. The species may be naturally rare, and the population trend is suspected to be stable based on the lack of current interactions with commercial fisheries. Therefore, there is nothing to infer or suspect population reduction at this time and Krefft's Skate is assessed as Least Concern.

Krefft's Skate occurs in the Northeast Atlantic from at least Iceland to southwest Ireland (Ebert and Dando 2021). It is found from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge southwest of Iceland (Jónsson and Pálsson 2006) to the Rockall Trough west of Scotland and Ireland (Stehmann 1977, 1993), and to the Porcupine Seabight (Dransfeld et al. 2007, Johnston et al. 2010). It probably extends further south to the Bay of Biscay (France) (Last et al. 2016), and, whilst not listed from Greenland (Møller et al. 2010), the distribution may also extend west from Iceland into Greenland waters.

No information on population size, structure or trends is available. It is an infrequent catch in deepwater trawl surveys off Iceland (20–1,500 m depth range) and Scotland (300−2,000 m depth range) (ICES 2018, 2022). The rare catches have remained consistent in both surveys. In Iceland, 1–3 individuals were captured annually at <1% of the sampling stations from 2015–2021 (ICES 2022). In Scotland, 0−2 individuals were captured annually from 1998–2013 (ICES 2018). The species is suspected to be rare but due to its depth of occurrence in waters deeper than commercial fisheries it is unlikely to interact with commercial fisheries, and there is nothing to infer or suspect population reduction at this time.

Krefft's Skate is demersal on the continental slope and submarine rises at depths of 1,000–1,500 m (Last et al. 2016, Ebert and Dando 2021). It reaches a maximum size of 60 cm total length (TL) with both sexes mature at approximately 50 cm TL (Stehmann 1993, 1977; Last et al. 2016; Ebert and Dando 2021). Like other skates, reproduction is oviparous but little else is known of its biology (Last et al. 2016, Ebert and Dando 2021).

Krefft's Skate is not currently threatened by trawl and gillnet fisheries from either European (EU) or United Kingdom (UK) fleets, as demersal trawling is not permitted at depths below 800 m and gillnet fisheries are not permitted at depths greater than 200 m (with some exceptions for fisheries targeting European Hake (Merluccius merluccius) and anglerfishes (Lophius spp.) in EU and UK waters of 200–600 m depth. Gillnets are not allowed in waters 200 m deep in the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) Regulatory Area. Thus, commercial fisheries do not operate within the species’ depth range for a large part of its geographical range. Previously, it was an occasional seasonal and local incidental catch of deepwater fisheries (Stehmann and Orlov 2014). It is an infrequent catch in research trawl surveys that range to its depth of occurrence (ICES 2018, 2022).

The species is not used or traded commercially.

Currently, there are no species-specific management or conservation measures in place, although catches of skates and rays are restricted in European waters. In 1999, the European Union (EU) introduced a Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for skates and rays of 6,060 t for fisheries operating in the EU waters of the Norwegian Sea (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea [ICES] Division 2.a) and EU waters of the North Sea (ICES Sub-area 4) based on landing statistics from the previous five years. This TAC was progressively reduced by 8–25% annually to 1,256 t (2013–2015), and has since been increased to 1,764 t (2023) (Regulation (EU) 2023/194). As part of the TAC, the bycatch quota for vessels over 15 meters was set at 25% of live weight of catch retained on board per trip. For the early part of this period, the TAC was higher than reported landings and, therefore, not effectively constraining catches. Management regulations for skates and rays became increasingly restrictive from the mid-2000s.

Skate and ray TACs were established for other EU waters in 2009, including from the northwest coast of Scotland and Northern Ireland to Portuguese waters (ICES sub-areas 6–7, and 8–9). These TACs have also been gradually reduced since and are currently 9,797 t for ICES Divisions 6.a-b, 7.a-c,e-k (within the range of Krefft’s Skate) and 5,519 t for ICES Division 8 and 9 (potentially overlapping with the southernmost range of Krefft’s Skate) (Regulation (EU) 2023/194). Whilst catches of the main skate species should be recorded by species, there is no requirement that species-specific landings data for Krefft's Skate be collected. In European waters, since 2016, demersal trawl fishing is prohibited at depths below 800 m (EU Regulation 2016/2336). Since 2006, gillnets are prohibited at depths below 200 m in the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) Regulatory Area (all international waters of the ICES Area) (ICES 2022), with comparable measures also in place for EU and United Kingdom waters, albeit with a provision for those fisheries targeting European Hake (Merluccius merluccius) and anglerfishes (Lophius spp.) at depths of 200–600 m. Further research is needed on population size and trends, and life history, and catch rates should be monitored.