The international shark fin trade affects uncounted millions of sharks each year. Shark fin soup is extremely popular in Asia, so the demand for the delicacy is driving them towards extinction. It is estimated that 73 million sharks end their lives in the global market. Often fins are cut off from live fish and their bodies thrown back to die a prolonged death. On December 15th the US Senate passed a bill banning the trade in the United States as part of the annual military appropriations bill. Before the bill passed into law, fourteen states and three territories had already banned the sale and possession of shark fins.
A recent study found that one-third of sharks and rays are now threatened with extinction, prompting CITIES to protect specific shark species, hammerhead and requiem, by placing them on CITIES appendix II in November 2022. Conservation leaders expressed gratitude for the legislative action protecting sharks in US waters.