Bycatch is usually thrown overboard to make room for the marketable species. Many sharks are caught solely for their fins that are used in soups and other preparations. While the practice of tossing the live shark back into the ocean minus its fins has recently been outlawed in the U.S., it still occurs in the world s oceans. Sharks are at extreme risk of over-fishing due to their slow rate of growth, late sexual maturity, long gestation period as well as small litter size. Some sharks have gestation periods longer than two years, while others do not reach sexual maturity until they have lived 15 years or more.
Many sharks are like humans and give birth to only one or two babies at a time.
The answer comes after you consider a few other questions. Some examples of over-exploited fisheries would be sea bass, sharks, cod, rockfish and swordfish. Rivers and streams where trout and salmon spawn have been dammed, polluted and concreted to the point of putting great stress on the animals ability to reproduce itself. Additionally, because the fish can be found concentrated in certain spots during spawning seasons, they are more susceptible to commercial overfishing. Fishermen know precisely where and when to find them.