Marine Wildlife

The Shark Fin Trade: Cruelty, Conservation and Change

The shark fin trade drives the killing of up to 100 million sharks annually, with finning — removing fins from live sharks — representing extreme cruelty alongside catastrophic conservation impact.

Key Facts

Up to 100 million sharks are killed per year primarily to supply the fin trade
Finning — slicing off fins and discarding the live shark to drown — is banned in many waters but persists
Sharks take 10-15 years to reach sexual maturity, making populations extremely slow to recover
Shark fin soup is a Chinese luxury dish with little nutritional value beyond the broth
Over 70 countries have banned shark finning, but loopholes allow fins to be imported from non-compliant fleets

Welfare Considerations

Live finning is one of the most acute animal welfare atrocities in the food system: a live shark is hauled up, its fins are amputated, and the still-living animal is thrown back into the water where it sinks to the seaboard and dies of asphyxiation or is eaten by other fish. Even where full carcass landing laws are enforced, sharks are killed in vast numbers for a single body part. The suffering involved — both from the catch itself and the fin removal — is profound.

What You Can Do

Never consume shark fin soup or products containing shark fin
Ask hotels, restaurants and caterers to remove shark fin from their menus
Support campaign organisations like Shark Guardian and WildAid pushing for global fin trade bans
Advocate for end-to-end supply chain transparency in seafood importing countries
Raise awareness about the issue with friends and family who may still consume shark products