Laws and Regulations

In the past, sharks are not economically important and there were very little information available. However, over the years, it has shown that the shark population is declining and hence there are several regulations and laws being put in place.

Bans on Shark Fishing

Due to the lack of appropriate management practices as well as practicing those which are already in place, governments introduced bans of finning, regulations of fishing and bans of shark fin trade in order to ensure that there is an appropriate shark population management, conservation and protection.

An example in Asia will be Raja Ampat, Indonesia, where all shark fishing is prohibited in that regent since 2010.

South East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (SEAFO)

The Convention on the Conservation and Management of Fisheries Resources in the South East Atlantic Ocean has an objective of ensuring the long-term conservation and sustainable use of fishery resources in a sizeable part of the high seas of South East Atlantic Ocean through the effective implementation of the convention. SEAFO put in place a regulation in 2006 which states that there should be full utilization of entire shark catches, with exception of the head, guts and skins to the first point of landing. The amount of fins should not be more than 5% of the weight of the sharks on board. This prevents the cruel practice of shark finning, where the bodies of sharks are being thrown back into the sea.

Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC)

With the presence of common issues such as unregulated fishing, overcapitalization, excessive fleet capacity and insufficient cooperation to conservation of highly migratory fish stocks, problems in management sea fisheries are arising fast. The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Convention aims to address these problems in order to conserve the shark population. WCPFC also put in place a regulation in 2008 which is similar to SEAFO that full utilization of a shark is required, with exception of the head, guts and skins to the first point of landing. The amount of fins on board should weigh less than 5% of the weight of sharks on board. However, upon landing, the fins can be transhipped separately.