WildAid's Shark Conservation Program seeks to reduce the threats to sharks caused by over-fishing and over-consumption of shark products and by wasteful practices such as finning and needless bycatch. We also aim to improve data-collection and research, to advocate protection for individual species under international agreements and conventions and to support Marine Reserves and other key areas where sharks are protected.

Since 2000, our Shark Conservation Program has successfully elevated the international profile of sharks and has highlighted the importance of conserving sharks globally. This has contributed to the achievement of  finning legislation in the European Union, international protection for two shark species and a UN resolution addressing the shark finning problem as well as a significant decrease in consumption of shark fins in key Asian countries.

WildAid is currently focusing on two key areas, Central and South America, as major sources of shark fin in addition to our consumer-side awareness and demand reduction campaigns. At the same time we continue to work towards strengthening international laws to protect sharks and to encourage the view that sharks are more economically valuable to governments as a tourist attraction than as a source of meat or fins.

Watch our Shark Conservation Public Service Announcements here.

For more information on CNN and the Planet in Peril series, please click here.