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\u201cMost of the shark species subject to Mexico\u2019s new retention bans \u2014 including the Critically Endangered oceanic whitetip and the exceptionally vulnerable bigeye thresher \u2014 were granted protections by ICCAT well over a decade ago,\u201d said Ali Hood, Director of Conservation for the Shark Trust. \u201cWe simply must pick up the pace and raise the priority for implementing these vital safeguards.\u201d<\/p>\n
ullstein bild via Getty Images<\/p>\n
The morning sun rises over the Gulf of Mexico, painting the sea in gold and crimson. A longline vessel bobs on the waves, its deck slick with saltwater and the smell of fish. Men moved in practiced rhythm, pulling in the miles of line that stretched far into the deep. Tuna was the ultimate goal of this voyage \u2014 sleek, silver torpedoes of muscle \u2014 but not every hook brought in a prize. <\/p>\n
Sometimes, the line came up heavy, thrashing. <\/p>\n
A shape too long, too gray. <\/p>\n
A shark. <\/p>\n
The crew would pause for a moment, squinting against the glare. A bigeye thresher, its tail fin as long as its body, or a silky shark with eyes that seemed to hold more awareness than anyone wanted to admit. There was no celebration then, just a sigh, a cut of the line, a muttered curse about wasted bait. Over the years, this scene had played out thousands of times, across hundreds of boats. Mexico\u2019s shark bycatch was never the main story, just background noise in the larger pursuit of tuna. But for the ocean, those \u201cunintentional\u201d catches told a different story, one written in slow, silent decline beneath the waves. For years, Mexico has been one of the world\u2019s top shark-fishing nations due to its longline vessels hauling in countless sharks as unintentional bycatch. Yet despite repeated promises to the international community, the country lagged in enforcing rules to protect some of the ocean\u2019s most vulnerable species. <\/p>\n
Now, that\u2019s finally changing. <\/p>\n
In mid-October, Mexico announced long-awaited national bans that prohibit the capture, retention, and trade of five groups of threatened Atlantic sharks, signaling a long-overdue step toward compliance with global conservation standards. The newly protected species include bigeye threshers (Alopias superciliosus), oceanic whitetips (Carcharhinus longimanus), shortfin makos (Isurus oxyrinchus), hammerheads (all Sphyrna species except the bonnethead shark Sphyrna tiburo), and silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis); these are some of the most recognizable and ecologically vital predators in our oceans that also happen to be among the most imperiled, their populations decimated by overfishing and the global fin trade.<\/p>\n
For conservationists, this move comes as both a relief and a source of frustration \u2014 it\u2019s the right decision, yes, but one that should have been made years ago. \u201cAlthough long overdue, Mexico\u2019s new shark protections have the potential to significantly bolster international conservation efforts for some of the Atlantic\u2019s most imperiled species,\u201d said Sonja Fordham, President of Shark Advocates International<\/a>, part of the Shark League coalition<\/a> in a press release she forwarded to me via e-mail. <\/p>\n The bans are thankfully more than symbolic, as they are a legal requirement for Mexico under the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas<\/a>, the intergovernmental body that manages tuna and tuna-like species and, by extension, the sharks often caught alongside them. Between 2009 and 2021, ICCAT has adopted measures to protect these species, recognizing that migratory sharks don\u2019t respect national borders and that effective conservation requires cooperation across countries. But those international commitments only work when individual nations follow through. Mexico, until now, had not. For years, it was cited by ICCAT\u2019s Compliance Committee<\/a> for failing to provide adequate data, enact domestic regulations, or even demonstrate progress on shark conservation. Reports from the Shark League (a partnership between Shark Advocates International, the Shark Trust<\/a>, Ecology Action Centre<\/a>, and PADI AWARE<\/a>) regularly highlighted Mexico as one of the biggest gaps in the Atlantic\u2019s shark protection network.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why this announcement feels like a long-delayed turning point. <\/p>\n Under the new regulation, Mexican longline vessels fishing for tuna in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the broader ICCAT Convention Area must release any of the listed shark species \u201cin the best possible condition for survival.\u201d They can no longer be retained on board, landed, or traded, whether whole or in parts. On paper, it\u2019s a major win for conservation! Ali Hood, Director of Conservation at the UK-based Shark Trust, put it plainly: \u201cMost of the shark species subject to Mexico\u2019s new retention bans \u2014 including the Critically Endangered oceanic whitetip and the exceptionally vulnerable bigeye thresher \u2014 were granted protections by ICCAT well over a decade ago. We simply must pick up the pace and raise the priority for implementing these vital safeguards.\u201d<\/p>\n Sharks are perfectly adapted predators that have ruled the oceans for more than 400 million years, yet their evolutionary success is also their downfall in today\u2019s fast-paced, industrialized world.<\/p>\n Getty Images<\/p>\n Sharks are perfectly adapted predators that have ruled the oceans for more than 400 million years, yet their evolutionary success is also their downfall in today\u2019s fast-paced, industrialized world. Unlike bony fish that can spawn thousands of eggs in a single season, most sharks grow slowly, mature late, and give birth to only a handful of pups after long gestation periods. When those individuals are lost to fishing \u2014 whether they are targeted or caught accidentally \u2014 recovery can take decades, if it happens at all. That\u2019s why every year of inaction matters. A missed deadline here, a delayed policy there, by the time data catches up to what\u2019s happening in the water, many shark populations have already plummeted beyond easy repair. Thus, a decade of inaction can mean the difference between a population recovering\u2026 or collapsing. And Mexico\u2019s delayed compliance has not gone unnoticed by global conservation authorities. In 2023, its hammerhead shark trade was flagged under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species<\/a> for \u201cspecial scrutiny\u201d during its first-ever Review of Significant Trade for sharks, signaling that the global community had lost patience with empty promises and half-measures. Time is no longer a luxury they have. Still, there\u2019s reason for cautious hope. As Shannon Arnold from the Ecology Action Centre said, \u201cEffective international conservation of migratory species depends on follow-up actions at the national level.\u201d It underscores the broader challenge: treaties and global pledges mean little without domestic policies to back them up. Now that Mexico has taken this long-overdue step, conservation groups are urging other ICCAT member nations that are still lagging to do the same.<\/p>\n