Once plentiful sharks are vanishing from the world's oceans, and some species are even at risk of extinction a shark expert told fellow scientists at the annual conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The global status of large sharks has been assessed by the IUCN-World Conservation Union, which maintains the Red List of Threatened Species. The assessment finds that many large shark species have declined by more than half due to increased demand for shark fins and meat, recreational shark fisheries, as well as tuna and swordfish fisheries, where millions of sharks are taken as by catch each year. 'As a result of high and mostly unrestricted fishing pressure, many sharks are now considered to be at risk of extinction,' said Julia Baum, a member of the IUCN's Shark Specialist Group and a postdoctoral fellow at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego. Of particular concern is the scalloped hammerhead shark, an iconic coastal species, which will be listed on the 2008 IUCN Red List as globally 'endangered' due to over fishing and high demand for its valuable fins in the shark fin trade.
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