 |
A shark.
© Mote Marine Laboratory |
|
|
Species or Group:
Sharks (all species, including dogfish)
Notes:
The three species primarily caught and marketed in the U.S. are mako sharks, thresher sharks, and spiny dogfish, also sold as “cape shark” or “rock salmon’’. About 100 (of roughly 380) shark species are in trade worldwide. Most are killed for just their fins, used primarily as a thickener in the very lucrative, high-prestige shark-fin soup business in China. Each year, sharks kill fewer than a dozen people worldwide, but people kill more than fifty million sharks. Sharks are quickly depleted and can only recover slowly from intensive fishing, because they tend to mature late, grow slowly, and produce few offspring (spiny dogfish have the longest gestation periods of any animal: 24 months).
Status:
Poor. Most species on the U.S. East Coast are overfished and depleted. Many other populations are declining rapidly.
Management Adequacy:
Fair to good in the Atlantic U. S. Poor in the Pacific. Essentially non-existent nearly everywhere else.
By-Kill and Other Considerations:
High. Catching sharks for just their fins and then dumping the bodies (often still alive) overboard is still legal in Hawaii and most countries. Most shark fisheries also entail moderate to high by-kill of non-target creatures, and sharks are often incidental catches themselves in other fisheries.
Overall Recommendation:
Do not bite! Red.
|
 |
|
2 of 7 |
|
 |
|
|
|