Shark fins have long been considered a luxury food in some parts of the world, much like caviar. Strong demand has placed increasing pressure on shark populations, many of which cannot reproduce quickly enough to recover from intensive fishing.

Understanding the global market for shark products requires more than fisheries data and knowledge of shark biology. Researchers must also examine how economic forces, consumer demand and regulations interact. Until recently, these different sources of information could not easily be analyzed together.

A new study has combined fisheries, trade and policy data to investigate whether shark-finning regulations influence global trade. Conducted by researchers from the University of California Santa Barbara, The Nature Conservancy and Renmin University of China, the analysis found no statistically significant relationship between shark-finning regulations and trade volumes, domestic consumption or the number of trading partners. The study involved researchers from UC Santa Barbara's Environmental Markets Lab (emLab), a collaboration between the university's Marine Science Institute, Department of Economics, and Bren School of Environmental Science and Management.

Hammerhead shark fins. Photo Credit U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 

Co-lead author Echelle Burns, a project scientist at emLab, said the team examined many possible factors but found no simple or definitive answer to whether finning regulations affect global markets.

Published in Nature Communications, the research is the first to examine the relationship between shark-finning regulations and international trade. Although no measurable impacts were found, the study provides an important foundation for understanding how conservation policies interact with global markets.

Co-lead author Sara Orofino, an ocean scientist at The Nature Conservancy, said the findings highlight the complex relationship between fishing practices and trade. A recently developed dataset now allows researchers to connect fisheries data with international trade records, making it possible to better understand how harvested sharks move through global supply chains.

Shark fins at Dihua Street, Taipei City, Taiwan. Photo Credit: Eazy traveler / CC 2.0

Sharks are especially vulnerable to overfishing because they grow slowly, mature late and produce relatively few offspring. “Many shark species face extinction because they’re frequently caught by fisheries — sometimes on purpose and sometimes [by] accident,” said Burns. Shark products—including fins, meat, liver and oil—are traded through complex international supply chains.

To help protect shark populations, governments have introduced a range of regulations, including shark-finning bans that require sharks to be landed with their fins attached or alongside their carcasses. Burns said one expectation has been that preventing shark finning could reduce incentives to target sharks, potentially shrinking the market for shark products.

The researchers also considered possible unintended consequences. Co-lead author Kaiwen Wang of Renmin University of China said requiring sharks to be landed whole could increase the supply of shark meat and potentially expand markets for other shark products.

The study became possible with the release of the Aquatic Resource Trade in Species (ARTIS) dataset, developed by the University of Washington in 2024. By combining ARTIS with econometric analysis, the researchers compared trade patterns before and after countries adopted shark-finning regulations and measured them against countries without similar policies.

The results showed no statistically significant changes in international trade or domestic consumption of shark products following the introduction of shark-finning regulations.

Senior author Gavin McDonald, a senior project scientist at emLab, said null findings remain valuable because they help advance science and inform policy, even when they do not show the expected effects.

Wang said the findings demonstrate that shark product supply chains are more complex than previously understood and raise new questions about regulatory enforcement and how markets respond to conservation measures.

Previous research by the team has shown that shark species respond differently to fishing gear, adding to the complexity of shark conservation alongside measures such as retention bans, import restrictions, gear regulations and international trade controls.

Orofino said evaluating how regulations influence trade is essential for understanding whether conservation policies are achieving their intended goals.

Adapted from original reporting by Harrison Tasoff, “Combining fishing regulations and trade data reveals the complex global market for shark products,” The Current, UC Santa Barbara, 2026.