Sharks are apex predators vital to ocean health, but they face severe threat from targeted fishing, bycatch, and the fin trade, often experiencing prolonged suffering before death.
Sharks suffer significantly in both targeted fisheries and as bycatch. Longline-caught sharks may remain hooked for hours or days before hauling. Finned sharks are often returned to the water alive and drown. The suffering involved is immense and the ecological cost of shark population decline is severe. Consumer and policy action can drive rapid improvements in shark conservation and welfare.