Shark Fishing vs. Conservation: Analysis and Synthesis

Abstract

The expanding shark fin market has resulted in intensive global shark fishing and with 90% of teleost fish stocks over-exploited, sharks have become the most lucrative target. As predators, they have high ecological value, are sensitive to fishing pressure, and are in decline, but the secretive nature of the fin trade and difficulties obtaining relevant data, obscure their true status. In consumer countries, shark fin is a luxury item and rich consumers pay high prices with little interest in sustainability or legal trade. Thus, market demand will continue to fuel the shark hunt and those accessible to fishing fleets are increasingly endangered. Current legal protections are not working, as exemplified by the case of the shortfin mako shark, and claims that sharks can be sustainably fished under these circumstances are shown to be misguided. In the interests of averting a catastrophic collapse across the planet’s aquatic ecosystems, sharks and their habitats must be given effective protection. We recommend that all sharks, chimaeras, manta rays, devil rays, and rhino rays be protected from international trade through an immediate CITES Appendix I listing. However, a binding international agreement for the protection of biodiversity in general is what is needed.

Shark evacuation from Mo’orea island in 2002

“…commun. 2002;Heupel et al, 2003), or when some of their numbers are killed by fishermen (Porcher & Darvell, 2022). However, the ocean during that period of time was undisturbed.…”

Introduction to the special issue on elasmobranch behaviour and cognition

“…The study was interrupted by the arrival of the shark fin industry which, in the end, left only the juveniles, who remained in the shallow lagoons, and saved the community in the study area. Before the sharks were protected in 2006, nearly all the adults disappeared, presumably finned, an event which underlines the dire need to protect the victims of the shark fin trade (Porcher & Darvell, 2022).…”

“…At the same time, media hype and nature horror shows featuring sharks as the demons of the human imagination, have raised a barrier to their conservation. The result is that with little public protest, those accessible to fishing fleets are declining towards extinction and their status is worse than any other class of vertebrates (for a review, see Porcher & Darvell, 2022). Media hype has also facilitated the spread of misinformation about sharks, so that in spite of a wealth of scientific findings to the contrary, the complexity of their mental capacities remains little known.…”

On the Movements of the Blacktip Reef Shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus)

“…These ecological relationships bear significant conservation implications, especially considering the global decline of shark populations due to overfishing [10]. The establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) has emerged as a cornerstone of shark conservation efforts [10].…”