Is Fishing Legal?

There are legal shark fisheries all over the world – most of which have little or no monitoring or management – even though major declines of shark stocks have been recorded in the last few decades. Many governments and the UN have acknowledged the need for shark fisheries management, but little progress has been made.
The meat of dogfishes, smoothhounds, cat sharks, skates and rays is in high demand by European consumers and heavily fished. In North America, the blue shark is sought after as a sport fish while the porbeagle, mako, black tip and spiny dogfish are part of commercial fisheries. In South Africa, many soupfins, seven gill and gully sharks are exported to Australia. In the U.S., Florida has the biggest active commercial shark fishery – accounting for over 4.8 million pounds of sharks. And unfortunately, recreational shark fishing exacerbates the rapid decline in shark populations and making it even more difficult to regulate stocks.
The following countries have banned shark fishing entirely:

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The Truth About Sharks

One

Sharks kill fewer than 4 humans on average each year, while humans kill an estimated 100 million sharks annually.

Two

Sharks have been honed to perfection, having existed on this planet for over 400 million years.

Three

Sharks play a vital role at the top of the food chain by maintaining balance in the oceans.

Four

* An estimated 73 million sharks are killed each year (that works out to more than 10,000 sharks per hour).

Five

Shark fins are tasteless, and may contain high levels of toxic methyl-mercury.

Six

Only a small number of countries have banned finning - many more need to be encouraged to enact legislation.

Seven

Many people assume that because they don’t eat shark fin soup – then they can’t possibly be contributing to the demise of the sharks and rays.