33 percent of the shark species are seriously threatened. The biggest threat to sharks is consumption. Research shows that an estimated 100 million sharks are killed every year for their meat, fins and cartilage.
The fins often disappear in expensive, exclusive Asian soup dishes. And the cartilage is used in remedies against muscle and joint pain .
The rising demand for shark products also drives illegal fishing for sharks. In many places there is a lack of proper regulation and enforcement to stop these practices.
Some species of sharks grow very slowly. It sometimes takes years before they are fully grown and reproduce. They also don't get get many baby's. The populations can not provide sufficient speed for new generations, making them very vulnerable to overfishing.
And so we have a shark sanctuary now and it is not allowed to fish in that area. But then the question raises, how does a shark know it's in a sanctuary?
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