Sharks, Trade & Policy: The Global Forces Shaping Their Future

Sharks have survived for more than 450 million years, enduring mass extinctions, climate shifts, and dramatic changes in Earth's oceans. Today, their greatest threat is not biological vulnerability, but the complex systems created by humans. International trade, market demand, political decisions, and enforcement failures now shape whether shark populations survive or collapse.Sharks, Trade & Policy is a fact-driven examination of the global forces shaping the future of sharks. Rather than relying on fear-based narratives or emotional appeals, this book explains how economics, governance, and law determine conservation outcomes. It explores how shark fins, meat, cartilage, liver oil, and other byproducts move through international supply chains, why demand persists despite regulation, and how markets adapt to legal pressure.The book analyzes national and international legal frameworks designed to protect sharks, including international agreements, domestic regulations, and regional fisheries management organizations. It explains how these systems function in practice and where they fail, particularly for migratory species that cross multiple jurisdictions. Enforcement challenges such as limited capacity, data gaps, corruption, inconsistent reporting, and jurisdictional loopholes are examined in detail.Sharks, Trade & Policy also addresses conservation economics, exploring the tension between ecological protection and economic dependence in coastal communities. It explains why some policies succeed while others collapse and why enforcement, not awareness, ultimately determines outcomes.Written in clear, accessible language, this book is designed for libraries, educators, policymakers, conservation professionals, journalists, and informed readers seeking to understand shark conservation as a political and&