Hammerhead sharks are particularly vulnerable to finning due to their large, commercially valuable fins and a biology that makes them sensitive to capture stress and hypoxia during fishing.
Hammerhead shark welfare from the fin trade involves one of the most acute capture stress deaths of any shark species. Their obligate ram ventilation — continuous swimming to pass water over gills — means that immobilization during capture rapidly causes hypoxia. Finning while alive is a prolonged welfare harm followed by drowning or predation when the finned shark is returned to the water. The collapse of hammerhead populations from targeted finning represents both a conservation crisis and an ongoing welfare emergency for millions of individuals caught in the fin trade annually. Consumer choice — eliminating shark fin from diet — is the most direct welfare intervention available.