Shark Extinction Crisis

January 2024

Icy Yeung

Hundreds of sharks have been killed over the last few decades. In Asia, their fins have been made into shark fin soup as a symbol of status. People believe that consuming shark fin soup is beneficial to their health, even though there is no scientific proof to support it. In order to hunt for the appendage, the practice of shark finning is mandatory. It is an inhumane practice that involves slicing off an animal's fins while they are still alive. Eventually, those animals would die due to suffocation, blood loss, or predation by other marine life.

According to a study conducted between 2012 and 2019, despite implementing measures to reduce shark mortality, 1.1 billion sharks have been caught by fishers. The team, including Darcy Bradley from the University of California and The Nature Conservancy, and Boris Worm of Dalhousie University, discovered that the mortality of sharks had increased from 76 million to 80 million during this period. A mortality of 100 million has been estimated for species that are not properly identified.

The rapid escalation of death mainly resulted from coastal fishers' activity. The mortality resulting from coastal fishers' activity increased by 4 percent during 2012 and 2019. Sharks are slow-growing animals that breed slowly, and during the past 50 years, extensive fishing has significantly surpassed the rate of population renewal. If action is not taken, the date of extinction is on the horizon.

Using mitochondrial genome markers, Antonio Baeza of Clemson University and his team are examining the genetic link across shark populations. Their studies have revealed long-distance genetic relationships between shark populations—even those that span many seas and hemispheres. This implies that if sharks are to be fished in a way that is environmentally sustainable, fisheries management practices must change. The study also discovered a genetic connection between the northeast Atlantic population and the huge, highly migratory porbeagle shark, Lamna nasus. Additionally, the study discovered a global pattern of shallow genetic structure along with a strong genetic connection between hemispheres and ocean basins.

References

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Auld, Alison. “Shark Alert: Ground‑breaking Global Study Reveals Species Still under Threat from Finning.” Dalhousie News, 11 Jan. 2024, www.dal.ca/news/2024/01/11/shark-fishing-finning-study.html.

Landrum, Cindy. “Clemson Researchers Study Sharks in Hopes of Helping Reverse Their Population Decline.” Clemson News, 5 Sept. 2023, news.clemson.edu/clemson-researchers-study-sharks-in-hopes-of-helping-reverse-their-population-decline/#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20main%20causes,the%20population’s%20rate%20of%20renewal. 

“How Does Overfishing Affect Sharks and Rays?” Save Our Seas Foundation, saveourseas.com/worldofsharks/threats/overfishing. Accessed 15 Jan. 2024.