Shark fin is one of the most expensive fish products in the world.
According to a 2015 report of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO, the price of shark fins exported from India increased five-fold between 2000 and 2009, from below $20 per kg to $112 per kg. The price fell slightly by 2012, to $78.2 per kg.
The export ban has caused a further price drop, but the fin trade is still profitable.
India is the third-largest shark catcher in the world. With no domestic market for shark fins, almost all the fins from India end up in the international market. Hong Kong is India’s most important market for the fins.
This demand for shark fins is frequently cited as one of the significant drivers of shark fishing. A 2006 study in the journal Ecology Letters estimated that up to 73 million sharks are killed every year for the fin trade. A paper published in Nature in January 2021 found that since 1970, the number of oceanic sharks and rays across the world has declined by 71%, owing to a massive spike in fishing pressure.
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