Shark populations are continuing to decline despite bans on finning
What exactly are the bans doing?


Conservation efforts for marine life are growing at a rapid pace — and one of the most consequential has been bans against the finning of sharks. But while numerous countries have enacted legislation to save the ocean's apex predators, new evidence has emerged that it may not be helping. The legislation may even be making the situation worse.
A Jan. 11 study published in the journal Science examined "[shark] mortality globally and found that, overall, it has continued to increase over the past 10 years." The study found that the banning of finning had "little impact" on the number of shark deaths.
Conservationists have long railed against the practice of finning sharks, and there are more bans in place now than ever. So why are shark populations continuing to drop?
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What is 'finning' and where has it been banned?
The practice involves "cutting off a shark's fin, often while the shark is still alive, and dumping the animal back into the sea to die slowly," according to Humane Society International. The fins are then used as an ingredient in a delicacy known as shark fin soup.
Jurisdictions that have either partial or complete bans on finning, per the Animal Welfare Institute, include the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, the European Union and Taiwan. While the practice remains commonplace in many East Asian countries, China and Hong Kong have banned shark fin soup at government events.
What did the study find?
Many of the finning bans began being implemented in the early 2010s. However, even as these regulations were being enacted, shark deaths from finning "increased from at least 76 to 80 million sharks between 2012 and 2019," the study found. Around 25 million of these deaths were from protected species, according to the study.
The study additionally found that finning overall was "moving away from finning of larger pelagic species toward full use of smaller coastal species, presenting new regulatory and conservation challenges." It also cautioned that the number of sharks being caught at the country level is likely underreported because "24% of the annual catch from national waters is being reported at the subclass," rather than the species. This can lead to a discrepancy in the total figures.
"Despite myriad regulations intended to curb shark overfishing, the total number of sharks being killed by fisheries each year is not decreasing. If anything, it's slightly increasing," Darcy Bradley, a scientist at the nonprofit Nature Conservancy and co-author of the study, told Forbes.
Why is this happening? It may be because of the bans themselves. The crackdown on finning seems to have "compelled fishers to retain the entire shark," Forbes reported. This has led to an "emergence of fresh markets for shark meat, oil and other products in countries that had not previously engaged in shark consumption," the outlet noted. So while finning may be banned, "the regulations may have inadvertently created additional markets for shark meat and cartilage."
Industry experts "told us that existing markets for shark products have expanded," Carleton University scientist Laurenne Schiller, another co-author of the study, told National Geographic. This "may be due in part to the increased availability of sharks resulting from anti-finning regulations." Beyond shark fin soup, this pivot has caused shark meat to be "used in fish and chips, in ceviche, or as a fraudulent alternative for swordfish," National Geographic reported.
What more can be done to save the sharks?
There is a glimmer of hope. "Entire bans on shark fishing — not just finning — over large swaths of ocean were the best regulations the group assessed," The Washington Post reported. In areas where this was enacted, shark deaths dropped "by nearly 40% compared with places without shark fishing prohibitions."
It was also noted that "the more accountable a government is to its citizens ... the fewer sharks died as a result of fishing in its waters." The death of sharks is "not an intractable problem," Boris Worm, a biologist at Dalhousie University and another co-author of the study, told the Post. "It's something that’s very fixable. It's very doable."
And there are many areas that still function as shark sanctuaries. Worm went diving off the coast of Indonesia's Raja Ampat in 2010 and "hardly saw any sharks," he told the Post. But when he went back in 2019, "there were sharks on pretty much every dive."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Justin Klawans has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022. He began his career covering local news before joining Newsweek as a breaking news reporter, where he wrote about politics, national and global affairs, business, crime, sports, film, television and other news. Justin has also freelanced for outlets including Collider and United Press International.
-
5 triple threat cartoons about Trump's third term
Cartoons Artists take on the 22nd Amendment, Barack Obama, and more
By The Week US Published
-
School disputes: a police matter?
Talking Point Cowley Hill lodged a police complaint against parents who criticised its recruiting process for a new head
By The Week UK Published
-
The Subantarctic: wild islands far south of New Zealand
The Week Recommends Far from the usual tourist crowd, these remote islands showcase stunning wilderness and amazing animals
By The Week UK Published
-
Scientists invent a solid carbon-negative building material
Under the radar Building CO2 into the buildings
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Dozens of deep-sea creatures discovered after iceberg broke off Antarctica
Under the radar The cold never bothered them anyway
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Why plans for a national park are 'ripping apart' genteel Galloway
Under the Radar Galloway's towns are 'bracketed with campaign banners' as residents battle over plans for the park
By Abby Wilson Published
-
Earth's climate is in the era of 'global weirding'
The Explainer Weather is harder to predict and more extreme
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Hot to go: extreme heat can make people age faster
Under the radar New research shows warming temperatures can affect biological age
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Parts of California are sinking and affecting sea level
Under the radar Climate change is bringing the land to the sea
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Jet fuel risk: what effect will North Sea tanker crash have on environment?
Today's Big Question Collision area has massive populations of seabirds, such as puffins and gannets, while porpoises and seals breed nearby
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
A new dam in the Panama Canal could solve water-level problems but create housing ones
Under the radar Droughts are becoming more common
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published