The regulations<\/a> would impact protections for the endangered<\/a> blacknose shark, which has seen its population cut by more than half<\/a> over the last quarter of a century. They would also raise the number of sharks recreational fishermen can catch per species<\/a> and alter how big the sharks that are caught need to be.<\/p>\n The proposed changes are necessary to make it easier for recreational and commercial fishermen in the Atlantic Ocean by reducing the shark population, the administration says.<\/p>\n But ocean and conservation groups assert that the updates are not based on what the science shows and could hurt species in the process of recovering after assessments showed a third of all sharks and rays were at risk of extinction<\/a>.<\/p>\n “We are concerned that the proposal creates opportunities for fishermen to kill significantly more sharks without providing any added protection to the most vulnerable species,\u201d said Sonja Fordham, president of Shark Advocates International.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is just a bad idea,\u201d Sarah Uhlemann, international program director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement shared with The Independent. <\/p>\n She noted that the outlook for sharks around the world is \u201cincreasingly grim\u201d and that the long-lived creatures \u201cdeserve more protection, not expanded opportunities for fishing them out of our seas.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is another example of the weakening regulations on behalf of commercial fishing interests in the absence of science,\u201d David McGuire, Director of the non-profit Shark Stewards, also told The Independent.<\/p>\n When asked for comment on the matter, NOAA Fisheries directed The Independent to information that had already been made public about the rule and comment period. Fishermen claimed that there is an overabundance<\/a> of Atlantic sharks that are impeding their ability to fish. Although, they did not cite any data for their position or acknowledge factors scientists say is changing where Atlantic sharks swim and feed, such as climate change.<\/p>\n McGuire noted that most of the species included in the proposal do not have formal assessments of their populations, although there is evidence that many populations are in decline. <\/p>\n Blacknose sharks remain subject to overfishing along the East Coast, according to Shark Stewards<\/a>, and their West Coast population is unclear.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, catching less than the quota is good, and it is not clear why there would be efforts to increase the portion of the quota captured without a new stock assessment,\u201d the Save Our Seas Foundation said.<\/p>\n![\"More](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/815192636...jpeg\")
More sharks could be caught under new updates to fishing regulations proposed by the Trump administration. But scientists say the proposed changes could be incredibly harmful (Getty)<\/p>\n![\"Fishermen](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2068288080.jpeg\")
Fishermen are claiming that there are too may sharks impeding their ability to fish in the Atlantic (AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
![\"Sharks](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/blacknose_shark.jpeg\")
Sharks have changed where they swim and fish in recent years, which some have attributed to climate change (NOAA)<\/p>\n