Tell Fish and Wildlife to Protect Hammerhead Sharks Under CITES

Each year, tens of millions of sharks are killed by overfishing to supply the shark fin trade.

Among these, millions of hammerhead sharks are killed each year through the cruel and wasteful practice of shark finning. Shark finning is the act of removing shark fins and discarding the living shark overboard to drown or bleed to death. Especially coveted for their fins to make shark fin soup, hammerhead populations are literally getting hammered.

Already threatened by longlines and overfishing, a hunger for fins is driving shark species to the brink of extinction. Hammerhead sharks and other species of sharks and rays need international protection immediately. 

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) analyses, all shark species proposed at the 2010 meeting met the criteria for listing under CITES Appendix II, yet the proposals were all shot down by nations with interests in the shark trade.  Restrictions on international trade are in place for only three shark species - the whale shark, great white shark and basking shark, yet hammerhead sharks and several other species need this protection. This listing requires that trade is controlled including shark fins, in order to avoid use that threatens the species' survival.

To Save These Sharks We Must Protect Them Now.

We need your voice to urge the US Fish and Wildlife Service to list endangered hammerhead Sharks under Appendix II at the next Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species at C0P 16, Bangkok in March, 2013.

Please use the form below to send a direct letter to the US Fish and Wildlife Service and tell them that you support regulations protecting hammerhead sharks.