Global shark fishing mortality still rising despite widespread regulatory change

Over the last two decades, sharks have increasingly been recognized among the world’s most threatened wildlife, and since received increased scientific and regulatory scrutiny. Yet, the effect of protective regulations on shark fishing mortality has not been evaluated at a global scale. Here we estimate that total mortality increased from 77 to 83 million sharks between 2012-2018, ~24 million of which were threatened species. Mortality increased by 7% in coastal waters but decreased 10% in pelagic fisheries, especially across the Central Pacific. By linking mortality data to the global regulatory landscape, we show that widespread legislation designed to prevent shark finning did not reduce mortality, but regional shark fishing bans and prohibitions for threatened species had measurable success. These analyses combined with regional expert interviews highlight emerging solutions to reverse the continued overexploitation of sharks.