Shark populations have declined dramatically from finning and bycatch. Individual sharks caught and finned suffer severely before death, representing a welfare crisis at scale.
Shark finning causes severe and prolonged suffering. A shark that has its fins removed and is thrown back into the water cannot swim - it sinks to the ocean floor where it dies by drowning (unable to move water over its gills), starvation, or predation by other fish while still alive. This death can take hours. The welfare case against finning is both clear and extreme - it is among the most obviously cruel practices in commercial fishing. Bycatch mortality in nets and longlines also involves suffering for sharks caught as non-target species - sharks may struggle in gear for extended periods before drowning or being hauled aboard and killed. The welfare and conservation crises for sharks are inseparable: recovering shark populations requires both ending finning and reducing bycatch mortality.