Description: Declining populations, increasing extinction risk, and growing awareness of their important ecological role have brought sharks increasingly into the public’s interest. New legislation has been introduced in various areas to ensure shark conservation and sustainable use. One of these areas is the Northeast Atlantic. Here, rapid losses in large predatory fish biomass have been observed. Nevertheless, only a small number of shark species have been formally assessed in this region to date. In light of current legislation, however, improved information on stock condition, critical habitat and fishing mortality rate is urgently needed to develop appropriate management. In this thesis, critical habitat areas, exploitation levels and abundance trends for three species of Northeast Atlantic sharks are presented: the tope shark (Galeorhinus galeus), starry smoothhound (Mustelus asterias) and spurdog (Squalus acanthias). An overview on their life history and biology is given, which includes von Bertalanffy growth parameters of tope, estimated via a novel approach from tagging data. When analysing critical habitats, evidence was found that important nursery grounds exist in the north-west of Scotland, the Outer Thames Estuary and along the Frisian Islands. Areas with high conservation value for mature sharks include the north coast of Ireland, the Vidal Bank region, the Anglesey Reef (central Irish Sea), the east coast of England and the southern Celtic Sea. Mating is suggested in some of these areas. The current population trends of the three species varied substantially: starry smoothhound and spurdog showed some evidence of recent increase, whereas tope sharks declined by more than 70% over the last two decades. The study revealed that all investigated species are currently exploited above levels that produces maximum sustainable yield (MSY), raising concern about the long-term future of these populations. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that for long living, late maturing and slow growing sharks, the size at first capture is essential for management and that sustainable exploitation may not be achieved if the size at first capture is too low. In conclusion, this study provides an overview on life history traits of tope, starry smoothhound and spurdog in the Northeast Atlantic, the current status is evaluated, and different conservation opportunities are presented.