January 18, 2024 — Shark finning bans have had little effect on protecting global shark populations, according to new research. However, shark mortality decreased in pelagic fisheries, which suggests that regulatory measures in regional fisheries have had some positive impact.
In a new study published in Science, an international team of researchers analyzed shark catch data from 150 countries and the high seas between 2012 and 2019, and also conducted in-depth interviews with shark fishery experts to comprehend the fate of an estimated 1.1 billion sharks caught by fisheries around the world.
The research finds that shark mortality increased by an estimated 4% in coastal fisheries between 2012 and 2019. In contrast, regulated fisheries on the high seas, especially across the Atlantic and western Pacific, decreased by about 7%. However, the authors suggest these figures are likely underestimated due to the difficulty of tracking and collating fisheries data.
Over the study’s seven-year span, legislation to ban shark finning increased tenfold. For instance, in 2012, several nations, including Brazil, Taiwan and Venezuela, dictated that fishers must land sharks whole, without their fins cut off, in attempts to deter the practice of shark finning. Other nations banned shark fishing altogether, which is what Fiji did in 2013.