Sharks have persisted as powerful ocean predators for more than 400 million years. They survived five mass extinctions, diversifying into an amazing variety of forms and lifestyles. But this ancient lineage is now among the world's most threatened species groups due to overexploitation in poorly regulated fisheries and the proliferation of wasteful finning practices.
Led by researchers at Dalhousie University, UC Santa Barbara and The Nature Conservancy, the team came to a surprising conclusion. They found total shark fishing mortality increased from 76 million to 80 million sharks per year even though protective legislation to reduce finning increased more than 10-fold during the same time.