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
The Shagreen Bone The Shagreen Bone The Shagreen Bone (, ) Op. 37-38 (1990) is a full-length ballet in three acts and an opera "entr’acte" in one act by Yuri Khanon, to a libretto by the composer based on Balzac’s 1831 novel "The Shagreen Skin". The ballet (Op.37) and the "entr’acte" (Op.38) were written in 1990 on commission from the Mikhaylovsky Theatre in Leningrad. The libretto is based entirely on the dialogues between the two characters – Pauline and Raphael. In 1992, an avant-garde film-opera "The Shagreen Bone" was shot at the Saint Petersburg Documentary Film Studio, with Yuri Khanon in the main