The government delegates here also agreed on an action plan for shark conservation and management that requires them to develop national plans for their shark fisheries by 2001. Worldwide, commercial exploitation of sharks has risen sharply over the last 20 years. In 1950, about 272,000 tonnes were landed. In 1996, the amount was up to 760,000 tonnes. Most of this is in accidental bycatch of fishboats after other species.
Sharks are food for the rich and the poor.
Shark meat is a cheap source of protein for millions of subsistence fisherfolk. Often the fins are cut off and the carcasses thrown back in the water. Shark skin, teeth, cartilage and liver oil are also used and traded. Many shark species grow slowly, mature late, and are not highly fertile. This means that they are extremely vulnerable to overexploitation as it takes many years for numbers to build up again.