by Amanda Sainez
Of the over five hundred species of shark that exist in our oceans, one of the most unique species is the scalloped hammerhead. This shark is, of course, notable for its unique head shape: a classic hammerhead shape with scalloped edges. They are, however, a very slow-maturing species, taking up to 15 years to reach maturity and breed. This, in combination with fishing, leaves them vulnerable. With the current state of US conservation and fishing laws, there is inadequate protection for these sharks, causing them to inch closer and closer to extinction.
In response to the threat that shark finning posed to shark populations, the US passed the Shark Conservation Act of 2010. The act states that all sharks, with the exception of one species, must be brought to shore with their fins naturally attached. This reduced the number of sharks that fisherman could catch and keep for fins, resulting in less sharks being killed. What this act did not do, however, was to prohibit the fishing of sharks. Without protection under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) or under state law, sharks were still legal to catch within the waters of the USA. The Shark Conservation Act further did not offer any protection for sharks from being killed as bycatch, a very common way in which scalloped hammerheads are killed due to their tendencies to travel in large groups.
Since the Shark Conservation Act did not outright prohibit shark fishing or methods that caused sharks to perish, not surprisingly the population of scalloped hammerheads continued to decline. Eventually, the scalloped hammerhead sharks were listed under the ESA in 2014. During the listing process, four distinct population segments (DPS) were identified: Eastern Pacific DPS, Eastern Atlantic DPS, Central & Southwest Atlantic DPS, and the Indo-West Pacific DPS. Of these four, the Eastern Pacific DPS and Eastern Atlantic DPS were categorized as endangered, while the other two were listed as threatened. Fishing for scalloped sharks thus became illegal in those areas.
Despite these ESA listings, however, the status of these sharks has not improved. In a 5-Year Review: Summary and Evaluation (2020), the NOAA Report indicated that, even after 5 years of listing, all four scalloped hammerhead DPS were still in decline. The current protections given to these sharks has clearly not been enough, and even the report described inadequacies with current regulations.
In order for scalloped hammerheads to be adequately protected, the biggest threats to them must be addressed. One of these threats cited in the NOAA report is fisheries. Scalloped hammerheads are highly susceptible to being caught in shrimp trawls and purse seines (a type of net) and exhibit a high mortality rate when caught as bycatch. With the popularity of such fishing methods in the industry, stricter regulations of such methods is necessary in order to further protect scalloped hammerheads. Even though fishermen are not targeting scalloped hammerheads with their nets, the sharks are still caught and die as a result. Should these threats to scalloped hammerheads go unaddressed, their populations will continue to decline until the sharks are extinct.
Amanda Sainez is a 3L Santa Clara Law Student