Shark fishing across the globe is the single biggest threat to shark populations. With up to an incredible 73 million sharks killed every year, predominantly for their fins, that one-third of all open ocean shark species are threatened with extinction.

Huge and increasing demand for sharkfins gives sharks the dubious privilege of being amongst the most valuable animals in the sea; it has also made them the most vulnerable.

Sharks are considered ‘keystone species’, which means that as top predators, they are extremely important in maintaining the balance in marine ecosystems. Removing too many sharks from an eco-system can lead to a monumental shift in the equilibrium between predators and prey all the way through the food chain.

Although there are well over 1,000 different species of sharks swimming our blue planet, this diverse group is generally characterised by biology that makes them especially vulnerable to fishing pressure; they are often long-lived, slow growing and late to reach maturity and reproductive age. This means they take a long time to recover from over-exploitation.

But the value of sharks doesn't just lie in their body parts. Not only are sharks of priceless value to the oceans, they are also a huge revenue earner in the tourism industry. In Palau, it was estimated that a single shark brings in US$179,000 every year in tourism dollars, or a total of US$1.9 million in the life span of a single shark. The value of 100 dead sharks in both fins and flesh amounts to 0.00006% of the lifetime value of the same sharks1.