Many shark populations have faced steep declines due to years of exploitation. Their slow reproductive rates make them extremely vulnerable to extinction. The disappearance of sharks—apex predators in many ecosystems—causes dangerous imbalances in marine communities worldwide.
Because of the high commercial value of shark fins and the relatively low value of their meat, fishermen often take only the fins and leave the rest of the body behind—an extremely cruel and wasteful practice. Typically, sharks are finned alive—brought aboard fishing vessels to have their fins sliced off, then thrown back into the sea, where they suffocate, bleed to death, or are eaten by other animals. Appallingly, the animals are usually conscious through much of the ordeal. Shark fins are the main ingredient in shark fin soup, a popular (and pricey) dish in East Asian societies; however it can be found at restaurants throughout the world. As a symbol of prosperity, it is traditionally served on special occasions such as weddings and banquets.
Up to 73 million sharks a year are killed for their fins alone. Approximately 50 million sharks die annually as bycatch in unregulated and indiscriminate longline, gillnet and trawl fisheries. High seas swordfish fisheries in Taiwan, Japan and Spain routinely catch large numbers of sharks as bycatch and then opportunistically take their fins. Shark cartilage, liver oil and meat are also utilized to a lesser degree.
Although over 100 shark species appear on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, trade restrictions exist for only seventeen species of sharks and both known manta ray species. Trade protections via inclusion on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) were provided for basking and whale sharks in 2002; for great white sharks in 2004, and seven species of sawfishes in 2006. Similar listings, with a delayed entry of September 2014, were achieved for manta rays; and oceanic whitetip, smooth hammerhead, great hammerhead, and porbeagle sharks in 2013.
AWI is leading an effort to compel restaurants in the US that currently serve shark fin soup to cease doing so because of the cruelty of shark finning and the fragility of shark populations. Read more about AWI's shark fin campaigns, both internationally and in the US, or view a list of restaurants in your area that offer shark fin soup.