Watch out, Jaws — your days are numbered.
Money-hungry fishermen and sellers are ignoring international regulations in favor of big profits in the illegal sale of shark fins — and new research led by scientists from Florida International University reveals this could lead the cartilaginous fish to being wiped out.
The peer-reviewed study, published in Science Advances, shows that fins from four out of five shark species regulated under the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) in 2014 remain commonly available in Hong Kong’s markets, the global hub for shark fins.
The fins are cut off of the sharks and used for the high-end dish shark fin soup. Getty Images
The threatened shark species included three large hammerhead species (scalloped, smooth, and great), the porbeagle, and the oceanic whitetip.
“Many sharks may be headed toward extinction, with international trade of shark products, such as dried fins that are used in the expensive luxury dish shark fin soup, often driving fishing pressure beyond a species’ ability to reproduce and replenish populations,” explained Dr. Demian Chapman, project leader and director of the Shark and Rays Conservation Research Program at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Sarasota, Fla.
“We’re seeing clear evidence of widespread noncompliance; illegal trade is still happening on a massive scale.”
The 2014 regulations required that all trade be reported and certified as not threatening the species’ survival, yet 81 percent of shark-fin-exporting countries have never reported any trade in these listed species, suggesting illegal exports are ongoing.
“There’s a huge gap between what’s on paper and what’s happening in the real world,” said Dr. Diego Cardeñosa, lead author from Florida International University’s Department of Biological Sciences. “DNA evidence clearly shows these protected species are still entering the global market at alarming rates.”
The creatures are caught and have their fins cut off before being thrown back into the water. Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The team red-flagged several countries that are very likely involved in the illegal shark fin trade at a high level, including Spain, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, China, the Philippines, Ghana and Brazil.
Millions of pounds of meat and fins move through international markets every year, with Hong Kong as the leading center for shark fins, bought dried or for soup, traditional medicine or by trophy hunters.
The popularity of the shark fin industry could lead to the extinction of sharks, experts said. South China Morning Post via Getty Images
This demand drives shark hunting and shark finning, a brutal practice where fins are cut from live sharks — which have been swimming in the Earth’s oceans for around 450 million years — and the sharks are thrown back into the sea to die.
“We are reaching a major tipping point where if the fishing and trade of these species is not meaningfully reduced, then these sharks will disappear,” warned Dr. Cardeñosa. “This would be a huge loss of top predators in our oceans, which could unleash serious and unpredictable ecosystem changes that negatively affect us.”
But researchers remain hopeful that sharks aren’t ‘fin’ished just yet.
“Shedding light on this problem is a major step toward solving it,” concluded Chapman.