Hammerhead sharks are among the most threatened shark species globally, with populations decimated by targeted fishing for fins and bycatch, despite their ecological importance as apex predators.
Hammerhead sharks face welfare threats primarily from the shark fin trade, where the practice of finning — removing fins from live sharks and discarding the body at sea — causes prolonged, painful deaths through drowning and blood loss. While some countries have banned finning and require sharks to be landed whole, fin trade continues through loopholes and poor enforcement. Bycatch in longline fisheries causes exhaustion, injury and death as sharks are hauled aboard vessels not equipped to handle them humanely. Their aggregating behaviour — which is socially and reproductively important — makes hammerheads particularly vulnerable to targeted fishing at known gathering sites. The loss of apex predators like hammerheads creates ecological cascades affecting entire reef and pelagic ecosystems. Hammerheads are also disproportionately affected by long-line hooks in their jaw structure, and post-release survival of hooked animals that are released is significantly lower than for some other shark species.