The best way to protect heavily depleted shark populations? Stop trying to catch them!

Citation
Harley S (2014) The best way to protect heavily depleted shark populations? Stop trying to catch them! SPC Fisheries Newsletter 145:4–5
Abstract

It was previously thought that the two heavily depleted pelagic sharks in the western and central Pacific — the silky and the oceanic whitetip — were victims of unintended bycatch. A startling new study by SPC, however, shows that sharks are actually being specifically targeted by some tuna longline boats operating in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.