The Smooth Skate (Malacoraja senta) is captured mainly in demersal trawl, longline, gillnet, and dredge fisheries. Historically, this species underwent very steep declines coinciding with high levels of demersal fishing from international fleets targeting shelf and slope groundfish. The extension of Exclusive Economic Zones out to 200 nautical miles in 1977 restricted fishing access to the USA and Canadian vessels. Effort was renewed on skates with the encouragement of directed skate fisheries as other groundfish fisheries collapsed in the USA and Canadian waters in the late 1980s and 1990s, and as international demand for skate wings increased. Population trends vary with latitude with very steep reductions in the northern (Newfoundland and Labrador Shelf, 2J3K) and central (Scotian Shelf and Bay of Fundy, Canada, 4VWX) parts of its range. There have been increases in the easternmost part of the range (Grand Banks, 3LNOPs) and signs of recovery in the southern part of is range in the USA. The overall index suggests a steep decline in abundance from the mid-1960s until the mid-1990s, followed by increasing abundance to the present day. The overall annual rate of decrease of 1.08% is consistent with an estimated median decline of 36.1% over three generation lengths (48 years), with the highest probability (62%) of >30% reduction over three generation lengths. Predation from recovering populations of Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) is estimated to have caused high levels of adult mortality in the Gulf of St Lawrence and which may be inhibiting recovery there. Overall, while the population trend is currently increasing, there have been substantial declines in the past and only limited recovery in some areas of its range. Mortality is ongoing from both bycatch and predation from Grey Seals in the Gulf of St Lawrence, and overall, this skate is estimated to have undergone a population reduction of 30–49% over the past three generations. Therefore, the Smooth Skate is assessed as Vulnerable (A2bd).