Regulations designed to curb the practice of shark finning have failed to make a significant dent in the global trade of shark products, according to new research.

A new study published in Nature Communications reveals that despite widespread international policy changes, bans on shark finning have had no statistically significant impact on global trade flows, including export volumes, imports, domestic consumption, or the number of active trade partners.

Shark finning – the practice of slicing fins from live sharks and discarding the carcasses at sea – has long threatened slow-reproducing shark populations worldwide. To combat this, governments introduced strict retention rules requiring fishers to land shark carcasses with fins attached, aiming to make shark fishing less lucrative by taking up valuable cargo space.

Conservationists had hoped these requirements would shrink the market by discouraging targeted shark fishing. However, the study found no evidence that trade patterns contracted following the implementation of these measures. Researchers suggest the market dynamics may be far more complex than anticipated.

Researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, The Nature Conservancy, and Renmin University of China conducted the analysis by combining global fisheries data with a newly available trade tracking database, the Aquatic Resource Trade in Species (ARTIS). By comparing countries’ trade patterns before and after introducing finning regulations alongside unregulated nations, the team was able to assess the economic fallout of marine conservation policies for the first time.

Scientists involved in the project emphasised that while the “null result” offers no simple victory for marine conservation, publishing the findings provides a critical reality check for environmental policy. 

They noted that the lack of impact highlights potential issues with regulatory enforcement.

Generic finning bans often suffer from weak dockside oversight and legislative loopholes, while rules forcing fishers to land whole carcasses can unintentionally expand markets for shark meat rather than reduce catches. Furthermore, because sharks are caught across fragmented international waters using diverse gear, isolated finning bans fail to address the broader regulatory web – including gear restrictions, species quotas, and trade bans – needed to meaningfully curtail global supply chains

“Our findings are an important warning that real-world changes along the supply chain of shark products are much more complicated than we would have thought,” said co-lead author Kaiwen Wang, an economist at Renmin University of China.

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