Four scalloped hammerhead shark populations at risk

Scalloped hammerhead sharks, listed as endangered in the eastern Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans, are better off in Hawaii because there is no market for sharks as a commercial species locally. Image courtesy of Jamm Aquino, Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has classified as endangered and threatened four distinct populations of scalloped hammerhead sharks, a species whose fins are favored in shark fin soup. The central Pacific population, which includes animals living in Hawai‘i’s waters, is considered fairly healthy and isn’t being listed. Carl Meyer, assistant researcher at the Hawai‘i Institute for Marine Biology (HIMB), said demand for the scalloped hammerhead fins is driving overfishing of the species because the high number of fibers in the fins makes them particularly desirable. They’re better off in Hawai‘i in part because there isn’t a market for sharks as a commercial species in the islands, said Kim Holland, also a researcher at HIMB.

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