Shark Fin Trade Welfare and Conservation

The shark fin trade causes enormous suffering through finning practices and threatens shark populations globally.

Key Facts

Shark finning — removing fins and discarding the live shark at sea — is banned in many but not all jurisdictions
Sharks finned at sea drown or bleed to death — a prolonged, painful process
Approximately 73-100 million sharks are killed annually for their fins
Many shark species are slow-reproducing apex predators vulnerable to overexploitation
Shark fins can still be legally traded and imported in countries with finning bans

Welfare Considerations

Shark finning is among the most clearly welfare-negative practices in the global seafood trade. Sharks dumped overboard alive after finning experience a slow death from drowning or blood loss — a prolonged period of severe physiological distress. The scale — tens of millions of individuals annually — makes this one of the largest acute welfare catastrophes in marine fisheries. The conservation dimension is compounded: shark population collapse disrupts marine food webs and represents ecological harm that affects the welfare of countless other species indirectly.

What You Can Do

Avoid shark fin soup and other shark fin products
Support legislation banning shark fin trade including import in your jurisdiction
Choose seafood certified from fisheries with no shark bycatch practices
Donate to shark conservation and finning enforcement organizations
Advocate for international agreements addressing shark trade and finning