ABSTRACT
The dire situation confronting shark species should not be underestimated. With an approximate 100 million individual sharks being fished annually (Worm et al, 2013), and uncertainty surrounding additional catches due to finning practices, unreported by-catch and illegal fishing, it is not surprising that so many shark species are considered as at-risk. For some species it is known that they are vulnerable or critically endangered, in other cases, as noted by Lack, we have insufficient data to be able to provide an accurate assessment. Sharks face a dual threat, as observed by Momigliano and Harcourt, in that there is a significant demand for shark products, but shark stocks are highly vulnerable to fishing pressure because they are long-lived, slow growing and late to reach sexual maturity. Compounding this, Kempster and Collin noted that ‘Unprecedented declines in shark populations have revealed an inability to predict both the susceptibility of populations to collapse and their capacity for subsequent recovery.’
