This simple fact naturally limits the size of their populations. Obviously, shark biology and current trends in sharkfin consumption clash. For now, sharkfin merchants keep pace with ballooning demand for fins by sourcing them from increasingly remote locations such as the South Pacific, the Maldives and South America. It is only a matter of time before shark populations in such areas are fished out as they have been in many parts of Asia. Perhaps the most insidious aspect of the sharkfin industry is the manner in which fins are procured.
Fishermen amputate the valuable fins and throw the still living fish back into the water to drown.
The fins comprise only a minor portion of a shark's total body weight. So not only is this practice cruel, it is incredibly wasteful. Successful though they may be, sharks did not evolve to be killed in large quantities for their fins. They evolved on the basis that there would be few animals capable of preying upon sharks, unlike fish such as sardines or herring, which did develop to be hunted in large quantities. It is now clear that shark populations cannot cope with the explosion in fin demand.