The ‘white’ fins of shark-like rays (including sawfishes, wedgefishes, and giant guitarfishes) are considered the best quality fins for human consumption and are among the highest valued in the international shark fin trade. The meat is of high quality and generally consumed locally. There is a high level of fisheries resource use and increasing fishing pressure across the range of the Whitespotted Wedgefish, and as a result, targeted and incidental fishing effort is placing significant pressure on all wedgefish species in the Indo-West Pacific. Where wedgefishes and giant guitarfishes have been targeted or exploited as incidental catch, severe declines, population depletions, and localized disappearances have occurred. Severe population reduction in the Whitespotted Wedgefish is inferred from actual levels of exploitation, as well as several historical accounts and contemporary datasets from Iran, Pakistan, India, Thailand, and Indonesia (and while most of these datasets are outside the range of the Whitespotted Wedgefish, they can be considered representative of population reduction throughout the Indo-West Pacific). While similar data are not available for the range of the Whitespotted Wedgefish (with the exception of the Iran dataset which shows a 91% population reduction over the last three generations), actual levels of exploitation are high across the range of this species with the exception of South Africa, and there is nothing to suspect that similar declines have not occurred in the Western Indian Ocean. The Whitespotted Wedgefish has been targeted in East Africa, and there is anecdotal reports suggesting population reduction in countries such as Mozambique, Tanzania, and Madagascar. In South Africa, there has been a marked decline in the catch-per-unit-effort of Whitespotted Wedgefish in shark bather protection nets in KwaZulu Natal. However, this decline may not be a good indicator of abundance, as it may be explained, at least partially, by a shift in gear deployment whereby nets were gradually lifted off the substrate. Fishing pressure is less intensive in South Africa than elsewhere, but this country represents the southern extent of the species’ range and only a small proportion of its distribution. Overall, it is inferred that the Whitespotted Wedgefish has undergone a >80% population reduction over the last three generations (45 years) and it is assessed as Critically Endangered A2bd.