Longlines, too, kill sharks. A 2007 report published by the Western PacificRegional Fishery Management Council and Blue Ocean Institute summarized a study of 12 longline fisheries from eight countries; it found that sharks comprise more than 25 percent of the total catch in the Australian longline tuna and billfish fishery and Fiji longline tuna fishery. Prior to a prohibition on the use of squid for bait, sharks comprised 50 percent of the catch of the Hawai’i-based longline swordfish fishery; now they make up 32 percent of the total catch. The largest proportion was blue sharks, ranging from 47 percent to 92 percent of the total shark catch. The study noted that "incentives to avoid sharks vary along a continuum, based on whether sharks represent an economic disadvantage or advantage."

The third factor that is rapidly leading to sharks’ decline worldwide is finning, an inhumane and largely unregulated practice that has increased dramatically in the last 20 years. Dried shark fins are a principal ingredient of shark-fin soup, which--ever since its political "rehabilitation" in the late 1980s in China (Mao Zedong had discouraged its consumption, declaring it "elitist")--has become increasingly popular, a "must" at most weddings and corporate functions. Because a fin is so much more valuable than the fish itself (one pound of dried shark fin can sell for up to $500, and the tailfin of a huge basking shark can fetch nearly $10,000), fishers will, if they can get away with it, keep only the fins and discard the fish. The World Conservation Union’s Shark Specialist Group estimates that tens of millions of sharks are finned worldwide every year. The true number is impossible to determine, given an active black market.

In U.S. waters, finning is allowed, but the body may not be discarded; only two percent of the total shark catch can be in the form of fins. A bill introduced by Sen. John Kerry would close the loophole in the law, which exempted boats that stopped in a U.S. port while in transit. Other countries with similar laws include Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Oman, the Seychelles, and South Africa, as well as the European Union. However, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the only organization maintaining a database on the shark fin trade, the world leaders in shark fin production are Indonesia, Singapore, and India, collectively accounting for 80 percent of production. China, which together with Hong Kong accounts for 90 percent of shark fin imports worldwide, has never reported any shark fin production to the FAO. These countries have no laws regulating the practice of finning.

To Love Them Like Dolphins
Nosal, also in Graham’s lab, sees outreach as the key to shark conservation: communicating the value and beauty of these animals, and educating people about what they can do to protect sharks. "We need to love them," he said, "just as we love dolphins, whales, and seals."

Humans who are at ease in the underwater world tend to appreciate their magnificence. "You have to see a shark, see it move, almost like a plane," Nosal said, his voice rich with emotion. "They soar through the water, graceful, not at all erratic; their movement is beautiful. They have an amazing sense of smell and can detect electric signals. They have inspired submarine design. Their skin, too, is amazing. It has denticles, like microscopic teeth. Olympic swimmers wear suits made with denticles to help [them] swim faster."

Because it is so easy to appreciate marine mammals, said Nosal, "we now have the Marine Mammal Protection Act, but we have nothing like that for sharks." He does not advocate as stringent a law, but does believe comprehensive and international protection against finning, overfishing, and other threats is essential.