New Research Highlights The Failings Of Regulating The Global Shark Trade

New research has found that current shark protection measures are failing to adequately protect the species and will not prevent them from being overexploited.
The work was carried out by Hollie Booth at the Universities of Oxford and Bangor.
The news is disappointing, especially in light of the 2025 conference on wildlife trade in Uzbekistan, where more than 70 species received additional protections. However, the research has found that, sadly, these alone will not be sufficient, and regulations alone will not be able to save these majestic creatures.
While the path of international trade is often well policed, it is only one of the main drivers of shark exploitation. Another massive driver is when sharks are a bycatch of wild-caught fish. These are often sold in domestic markets and, as such, can go under-reported.
As a result of this local factor, significant numbers of sharks and rays are slaughtered daily without being reported. In addition, as sharks become more regulated and scarcer, prices rise, prompting more unregulated black-market trade.
The report concludes that the only way to combat shark overfishing is to tackle the phenomenon on several fronts, including demand, social change and supply-side education.
The research results are available at nature.com.