Number of sharks killed each year increasing at alarming rate despite regulations, study finds

Certain conservation measures have favored the development of new markets for the flesh of these endangered animals.

Measures that are far from sufficient. The global population of sharks is in free fall, despite efforts to reduce the massive hunting of these animals for their meat, researchers denounced in a report published Thursday January 11 in the journal Science.

Between 2012 and 2019, the number of sharks killed by fishing increased from around 76 million per year to more than 80 million, according to scientists. At least 25 million of these animals belonged to endangered species.

Today, 70% of countries and jurisdictions have put in place rules to reduce hunting and shark finning, including banning the discarding of large predators whose fins have been clipped. But some of these rules have unintentionally encouraged the shark meat market. “Now there’s a market for cutting them up and putting them in ceviche.”underlines Boris Worm, the main author of the study, in the journal.

“It’s less wasteful than finning, but a dead shark is a dead shark.”

Boris Worm, marine ecologist at Dalhousie University (Canada)

to the journal Science

The researchers were surprised to learn “how widespread the trade in shark meat, oil and cartilage is and how sharks appear in many products without consumers being aware”, specified Boris Worm. Fisheries now catch smaller sharks more often due to the decline in the fin trade and the decline in large sharks.

Predators essential to ocean health

In areas with the highest shark mortality, researchers found greater use of gillnets (suspended in the water) and trawls (heavy nets dragged along the ocean floor). “We need to take a more targeted approach to reducing shark mortality”said Laurenne Schiller, who participated in the study.

These large predators, essential to the health of the oceans, are very vulnerable, argues the researcher. “The disappearance of these species can disrupt the balance of the marine ecosystem”she is alarmed, while one in three sharks in the world is threatened with extinction.