Shark finning — removing shark fins at sea and discarding the living body — causes slow, painful death for millions of sharks annually and has driven severe population declines across all major shark species.
Shark finning is among the most viscerally cruel practices in global fisheries, combining ecological devastation with individual animal suffering of exceptional severity. A finned shark returned to the ocean is conscious and alive but unable to swim, sinking to the seabed where it dies over hours from asphyxiation, blood loss and attack by other animals attracted to its wounds. The demand that drives this practice — primarily for shark fin soup — has proven responsive to consumer campaigns and celebrity advocacy in some markets, demonstrating that demand reduction is achievable. Legislative fins-attached requirements, import bans and restaurant boycotts have all contributed to measurable reductions in finning activity in regions where they have been implemented and enforced.