Race to Extinction: Shark Conservation Under International and European Law and its Limits

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the existing (global and regional) legal standards on
shark conservation from over-exploitation. First, an analysis of the current international legal
framework (law of the sea, sustainable fisheries management, wildlife law) applicable to
shark protection is provided (Part I). Next the paper explores the evolution of the European
Union (EU) policy on shark finning, since the EU − in line with the United States (Shark
Conservation Act) − opted for a strict fins-attached policy, or Fins-Naturally Attached (FNA),
The new policy eliminated the major pitfall of its previous regulation, based on a fin-tocarcass
weight regime, that allowed separate landing of the fins detached and of the shark
carcass. This paper considers whether this turn of the EU – the first intergovernmental
organization to adopt a binding act on shark finning – can be considered as a breakthrough
and whether FNA can be the solution to the threat of extinction of sharks, arguing for a
different solution.