Sharks are increasingly recognized as cognitively complex animals whose welfare is severely compromised by finning, bycatch, and overfishing that kill 73 to 100 million individuals annually.
Sharks killed by finning experience drowning - the removal of fins leaves them unable to swim and they sink, suffocating over a period that may last hours in a fully conscious state. Longline bycatch sharks drown entangled in submerged lines, experiencing the terror and physical pain of confinement and oxygen deprivation. Even sharks released alive from longline hooks often die within days from physiological stress and injury. The cognitive complexity of sharks - their individual recognition, social learning, and site fidelity - suggests their experience during capture and death may involve more than simple nociception. The scale of shark mortality represents welfare harm at a level that dwarfs the concern given to individual charismatic species.