Sharks Are in Trouble. Conservation Is Also Working.
An honest look at shark conservation in 2026: the decline, the historic CITES 2025 vote, and the recovery stories that prove it is working.
Shark Conservation in 2026
Part 3 of the Ocean Worth Saving series. By William Drumm, underwater photographer and ocean ambassador.
I have spent more time underwater with sharks than with most people I know. Blue sharks off Cabo. Bull sharks in Cabo Pulmo. Nurse sharks drifting along Caribbean reefs. Reef sharks circling in the blue. Every single time, the same feeling, that I am in the presence of something ancient and perfectly designed.
Sharks have been in the ocean for 450 million years. They survived the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs. They survived four other mass extinctions before that.
The only thing they have not been able to survive is us.
But the data on shark conservation is not entirely a story of loss. In November 2025, something happened that conservationists have been working toward for decades. And the science on shark recovery is increasingly clear. So here is the honest, full picture, the bad and the good together.
Quick Facts: The State of Shark Conservation in 2026
- Global oceanic shark and ray population decline since 1970: 71%
- Annual fishing pressure increase since 1970: 18-fold
- Sharks and rays caught annually (targeted plus bycatch): up to 100 million
- Shark and ray species threatened with extinction: 75% of oceanic species
- Years sharks have existed: about 450 million (predates trees, dinosaurs, and flowering plants)
- CITES species under trade protection by 2022: about 90% of the global fin trade, up from 25% in 2019
- Most recent major win: November 2025 CITES CoP20, the oceanic whitetip granted an Appendix I commercial trade ban, a first for any shark species
- Shark sanctuaries worldwide: Palau (600,000+ sq km), Maldives, Bahamas, Micronesia, Dominican Republic, and more
- Annual revenue from shark diving tourism (global): hundreds of millions of US dollars
- US Atlantic focal shark species recovering since the 1993 management plan: nearly all 11 species
The Decline Is Real and Severe
Since 1970, the global abundance of oceanic sharks and rays has declined by 71% due to an 18-fold increase in relative fishing pressure. Three-quarters of oceanic shark and ray species are now threatened with extinction.
That number, 71%, needs a moment to land. In less than a human lifetime, we have removed nearly three quarters of the ocean’s apex predators from the water. The consequences for marine ecosystems are profound. Sharks regulate prey populations, maintain the balance of reefs, and keep food webs functioning. Remove them and the cascading effects move through every level of the ocean.
Up to 100 million sharks and rays are caught every year, whether targeted in fisheries or caught as bycatch in nets set for other species. Most of those deaths are not even intentional. They are the collateral damage of industrial fishing targeting tuna, swordfish, anything with commercial value. The shark is just in the way.
Sharks and rays are globally in a worse conservation state than all other vertebrate groups apart from amphibians. The largest species declined first and most rapidly, eroding both biodiversity and ecosystem function across entire ocean systems.
The great hammerhead. The oceanic whitetip. The whale shark. The scalloped hammerhead. These are not obscure species. They are some of the most iconic animals in the ocean. And they are disappearing.
Why Sharks Matter Beyond the Fear
Most people’s relationship with sharks is built on Jaws. The reality is almost the opposite.
Sharks are the ocean’s immune system. They remove the sick, the weak, and the slow. They prevent any single species from dominating a reef. They keep prey populations in check so that coral has space to grow and seagrass beds can function. A reef without sharks is a reef in decline.
There is also an economic argument that rarely gets made clearly enough. Shark diving generates hundreds of millions of dollars annually in tourism revenue. A live shark, photographed and watched by divers over decades, is worth exponentially more than a dead one sold for fins.
The fear is understandable. The math is not complicated.
The Conservation Wins Are Real
Here is where the story changes, and this part matters as much as the decline.
What Happened at CITES CoP20 in November 2025
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is the international agreement governing which species can be traded across borders for commercial purposes, and under what conditions. CITES has three appendices. Appendix III lists species protected in at least one country. Appendix II covers species not necessarily threatened with extinction now but at risk if trade is uncontrolled. Appendix I, the highest level, prohibits international commercial trade entirely.
At CITES CoP20 in Samarkand in November 2025, governments voted to grant the oceanic whitetip shark Appendix I status. This was the first time in CITES history a shark species had been given a full commercial trade ban. It puts the oceanic whitetip, once one of the most abundant open-ocean sharks and now critically endangered, at the same level of protection as elephants, rhinos, and giant pandas.
The vote did not stop there. Every single shark and ray proposal tabled at CoP20 passed. More than 70 species across multiple shark and ray families gained or strengthened CITES protection. The proposals were co-sponsored by more than 50 governments spanning Latin America, Africa, the Pacific, and Asia, voting together in what conservationists described as an unprecedented coalition.
What this means in practice: countries that import shark fins, meat, or other shark products must now obtain permits demonstrating that catches were legal and sustainable. For the oceanic whitetip specifically, no commercial international trade is allowed at all. Enforcement remains the hard part, because international wildlife trafficking is a multibillion-dollar industry and CITES violations happen, but the legal framework is now substantially in place where it was not before.
By 2022, even before CoP20, around 90% of the global shark fin trade was under some form of CITES regulation, up from just 25% as recently as 2019. The trajectory of international shark protection in the past decade is genuinely remarkable.
After the US introduced its Fisheries Management Plan for Sharks in 1993, almost all 11 focal shark species in US Atlantic waters either increased toward rebuilding or stabilized. Great white shark populations in the Northwest Atlantic showed measurable annual increases after decades of decline.
Shark sanctuaries now span millions of square kilometers across Palau, the Maldives, the Bahamas, Micronesia, and the Dominican Republic.
The science is not ambiguous. In the North and Central Atlantic, the average extinction risk for coastal sharks is currently half what it was before management measures were introduced. When we stop killing them, they come back. Slowly, because sharks reproduce slowly. But they come back.
Where Conservation Has Already Worked
The aggregate statistics are persuasive. The specific stories are more so.
The Maldives shark fishing ban
In 2010, the Maldives became one of the first countries in the world to ban all shark fishing in its waters. The ban came after the country had already lost most of its commercial shark populations to decades of unregulated fishing. The economic argument that drove the policy was straightforward: shark diving tourism was generating substantially more revenue than shark fishing ever had, and a single tourism-grade reef shark was worth far more alive over a decade than dead at market once.
The data has confirmed the policy. Maldivian reef shark populations have stabilized and in some atolls are recovering. The dive tourism economy continues to grow. The Maldives remains one of the most reliable destinations for diving with grey reef sharks, whitetip reef sharks, and the occasional whale shark.
Palau’s shark sanctuary
Palau established the world’s first national shark sanctuary in 2009, a protected zone covering more than 600,000 square kilometers of its exclusive economic zone, an area larger than France. All commercial shark fishing was banned. The country has since become a global model for how small island nations can lead on conservation policy.
Palau’s shark populations have stabilized. The country’s dive industry, which depends on healthy shark populations, has thrived. Multiple other Pacific nations, including the Marshall Islands, Cook Islands, and French Polynesia, have followed with similar sanctuaries.
US Atlantic shark recovery
After the United States introduced its Fisheries Management Plan for Sharks in 1993, almost all 11 focal shark species in US Atlantic waters either began recovering or stabilized. Great white shark populations in the Northwest Atlantic have shown measurable annual increases for over two decades. Sandbar sharks, dusky sharks, and several other species have moved out of the most critical decline categories.
The recovery is slow because sharks reproduce slowly. A great white might not reach sexual maturity until age 30. Population recovery happens on multi-decade timescales, not years. But the trajectory is unambiguously positive where management has been enforced.
The Bahamas shark sanctuary
The Bahamas declared its waters a shark sanctuary in 2011. Lemon shark populations, long established at iconic dive sites like Tiger Beach, have remained robust. The country’s shark diving industry is now one of the largest in the world by revenue, with operators drawing photographers, scientists, and divers from across the globe. The lemon sharks, tiger sharks, and great hammerheads of the Bahamas are among the most photographed sharks on Earth, and the local economy has built itself around protecting them.
What these stories have in common
Specific protections, properly enforced, work. The countries that have made the strongest commitments and built domestic enforcement infrastructure have the strongest shark populations. The data and the case studies converge on the same answer: when humans stop killing sharks, sharks come back. The barrier is not biological. It is political and economic.
Bring the water home
What I See When I Am in the Water With Them
Shooting blue sharks off Cabo San Lucas in open ocean, there is a moment when you stop thinking about the camera. The shark moves through the water with a kind of effortless precision that makes everything else feel clumsy by comparison. It is not aggressive. It is curious. Slightly indifferent. It has been doing this for 450 million years and it has no particular interest in impressing you.
Bull sharks in Cabo Pulmo are different, thicker, more deliberate, with an awareness of their environment that you feel rather than see. They circle without rushing. They assess without threatening.
Every time I am in the water with a shark I think about the statistic. 71% gone. The shark in front of me is part of a population that has lost three quarters of its members in my lifetime. It has no idea. It is just doing what sharks do.
That is the whole point. Sharks do not need to be saved from themselves. They need to be saved from us. And unlike almost every other conservation challenge, this one is solvable. The mechanisms exist. The international frameworks exist. The science is clear. The only ingredient missing is the will to enforce what we have already agreed to.
450 Million Years, and Counting
Sharks have been here for 450 million years. They were here before trees. Before flowering plants. Before birds. Before almost everything we recognize as life on land.
The idea that we could remove them from the ocean in less than a single human lifetime should stop us completely.
The CITES vote in November 2025 is evidence that it is stopping some of us. Governments are acting. Populations are recovering where management is enforced. The ocean is resilient when we give it the chance to be.
Go look for sharks. Dive with them if you can. Tell people what they are really like. The fear is the enemy of the shark. And the shark is the friend of everything else in the ocean.
Frequently Asked Questions About Shark Conservation
Are shark populations really declining?
Yes. The most cited study, published in Nature in 2021, documented a 71% decline in oceanic shark and ray populations between 1970 and 2018. Three quarters of oceanic shark and ray species are currently threatened with extinction. The decline has been driven primarily by industrial fishing, both targeted shark fisheries and bycatch in fisheries targeting tuna, swordfish, and other species.
Why is shark conservation important?
Sharks are apex predators that regulate marine food webs. They control prey populations, prevent any single species from dominating reefs, and remove sick or weak animals from the ecosystem. When sharks disappear from a reef, the cascading effects can collapse coral systems, deplete commercial fish stocks, and damage seagrass beds. Shark diving tourism also generates hundreds of millions of dollars annually. A single shark is worth far more alive over its lifetime than dead.
What is CITES shark protection?
CITES is the international Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. By 2022, roughly 90% of the global shark fin trade was under some form of CITES regulation, up from 25% in 2019. At CITES CoP20 in November 2025, governments voted to give the oceanic whitetip shark full Appendix I protection, banning all international commercial trade. This was a historic first for any shark species.
How many sharks are killed each year?
Estimates range from 80 to 100 million sharks and rays caught annually, both as targeted fisheries and as bycatch. Actual mortality is likely higher than reported because of unreported catches and post-release mortality.
What is shark finning?
Shark finning is the practice of catching sharks, removing their fins, and discarding the rest of the animal at sea. The fins are used primarily in shark fin soup, a luxury dish in some Asian cuisines. The practice is now banned in many countries and increasingly restricted internationally, though enforcement varies. Reduced demand from public awareness campaigns in China, Hong Kong, and other markets has helped lower fin consumption substantially over the past decade.
Are sharks dangerous to humans?
Statistically, no. There are around 80 unprovoked shark attacks worldwide each year, with fewer than 10 typically fatal. Far more humans are killed annually by lightning strikes, vending machines, and bee stings. Sharks kill roughly 5 humans per year. Humans kill roughly 100 million sharks per year.
Which sharks are most endangered?
The oceanic whitetip shark, scalloped hammerhead, great hammerhead, smooth hammerhead, shortfin mako, and several other open-ocean species are listed as Critically Endangered or Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The great white, while iconic, is currently listed as Vulnerable, in better condition than several less famous species. Many smaller and less famous shark species such as sawfish, angel sharks, and certain skates and rays are in even worse condition.
Are great white shark populations recovering?
Yes, in some regions. Great white shark populations in the Northwest Atlantic have shown measurable annual increases since the US Fisheries Management Plan for Sharks was introduced in 1993. Pacific populations are also stable or recovering in some areas. Recovery is slow because great whites reproduce slowly. Females do not mature sexually until around age 30, and they have small numbers of pups. But the trajectory is positive where management is enforced.
What can individuals do to help shark conservation?
A few high-leverage actions: do not consume shark fin soup or shark meat; support shark sanctuaries by visiting them through responsible dive operators; donate to organizations doing shark conservation work like Shark Trust, Save Our Seas Foundation, Beneath the Waves, or Bimini Biological Field Station; support seafood certification programs that reduce shark bycatch; and pressure elected officials to ratify and enforce international shark protection agreements.
Why are shark populations slow to recover?
Sharks have what biologists call K-selected life histories. They live long, mature late, and produce few offspring. A great white may take 30 years to reach sexual maturity. Many shark species have only 2 to 12 pups at a time, and not every year. Recovery from population collapse takes decades to centuries, not years. This is why decades of management often have to elapse before recovery is statistically detectable.
Take Action
If this piece was useful, here are a few things you can do:
- Read Part 1 of the Ocean Worth Saving series: Is the Ocean Going to Be Okay? What 2025's Data Actually Shows.
- Look at my underwater photography of sharks: blue sharks off Cabo San Lucas and bull sharks in Cabo Pulmo.
- Support a shark conservation organization: Shark Trust, Save Our Seas Foundation, Beneath the Waves, Bimini Biological Field Station, or your local marine conservation group.
- Sign up for my newsletter, where I write about ocean stories, conservation news, and behind-the-scenes work.
Share this piece if you found it useful. Every person who stops fearing sharks is one more on their side.
Sources and Further Reading
- Pacoureau, N., et al. "Half a century of global decline in oceanic sharks and rays." Nature, 2021.
- Dulvy, N. K., et al. "Overfishing drives over one-third of all sharks and rays toward a global extinction crisis." Current Biology, 2021.
- Pacoureau, N., et al. "Conservation successes and challenges for wide-ranging sharks and rays." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 2023.
- CITES CoP20 Outcomes, Samarkand, Uzbekistan, November 2025.
- NOAA Fisheries: 2024 Highly Migratory Species Stock Assessments.
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2025 update.
- WWF Shark Programme: Annual Report on Shark Conservation Progress.
- Save Our Seas Foundation: Project reports on shark research and protection.
- Shark Trust: Conservation status updates by species.
- Maldives Marine Research Institute: Long-term reef shark monitoring data.
- Palau Conservation Society: Shark Sanctuary impact assessments.
- Bahamas National Trust: Marine Protected Area outcomes.
Read Next in the Ocean Worth Saving Series
- Part 1: Is the Ocean Going to Be Okay? What 2025's Data Actually Shows.
- Part 2: Water Bankruptcy and the Ocean: Why Wetlands Matter.
- Part 3: You are here.
- Part 4: Whale Populations, Recovery and Risk.
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