Japanese angelshark is eaten and the rough skin is made into a type of leather called shagreen for use in wood finishing. Angel sharks in general are highly threatened by commercial trawl fisheries due to their susceptibility to capture and low rate of reproduction, and angel shark species elsewhere are known to have declined markedly under fishing pressure. Trawling activity in the Yellow Sea and other parts of the northwestern Pacific is intense and, coupled with pollution, has had a serious impact on the local ecosystem. The Japanese angelshark population is suspected to have declined by up to 50% or more under
Legend of the Leather Bridge enough to span the five hundred metres between them. A leather bridge is supposed to have linked the two castles of Stolzenburg and Pielstein over the Urft. According to local legend, their knights lived in the lap of luxury, demanding socage from the farmers, yet allowing their children to play skittles along the bridge with loaves of bread, whilst the subjects were dying of hunger. God himself is said to have destroyed both castles by unleashing a natural disaster. Near Arnsberg legend has it that the devil made a leather bridge between the castles of Rüdenburg and Arnsberg in order