Sharks are among the most ecologically important and misunderstood marine animals, facing major welfare threats from fishing, finning, and inadequate conditions in some aquaria.
Shark welfare is frequently overlooked because sharks are often perceived as threats rather than sentient animals with their own welfare interests. As fish, sharks have nervous systems and behaviours consistent with pain experience, and they face significant welfare harms from commercial fishing including bycatch entanglement, finning, and catch-and-release injuries. Aquarium keeping of sharks raises genuine welfare concerns for open-water species with large space requirements. Shark finning, where fins are removed and the live animal discarded at sea, is one of the most clearly inhumane practices in marine fishing and continues despite widespread prohibition. Effective shark welfare protection requires banning finning comprehensively, reducing bycatch, and ensuring aquarium standards for sharks are species-appropriate.