Shark Fin Trade and Welfare | Animal Welfare Hub

How the shark fin trade causes severe animal welfare harms and what legislative and market solutions are reducing finning globally.

Key Facts

An estimated 73 million sharks are killed annually primarily for the shark fin soup trade
Finning — cutting off fins and discarding live sharks at sea — causes a prolonged, painful death
Fin bans have been implemented in over 30 US states and numerous countries
Many shark species are now at risk of extinction partly due to fin trade pressure
Consumer demand reduction campaigns in key markets including China and Hong Kong are showing results

Welfare Considerations

Shark finning causes acute suffering. Sharks thrown back without fins are unable to swim, sinking to the bottom where they die of suffocation, blood loss, or predation. This prolonged death involves significant suffering. Welfare interventions include finning bans that require sharks to be landed whole, consumer campaigns in demand countries, hotel and restaurant pledges to remove shark fin soup from menus, and trade restrictions on shark fin products. Education about shark welfare has been effective in reducing demand among younger consumers.

What You Can Do

Never consume shark fin soup or products containing shark fin
Support organizations campaigning for global shark fin trade bans
Ask hotels and restaurants whether they serve shark fin and commit to avoiding those that do
Support international trade agreements that restrict shark fin imports