The review of shark conservation legislation in China: deficiencies and potential avenues for improvement

Shark, as ancient apex predators, is facing severe challenges due to widespread overfishing and by-catch. Presently the decline of shark populations has been attributed to the shark fishing and shark fin trade in China. However, this country has taken a range of legislative tools to promote shark conservation, which include fulfilling the obligations outlined in international instruments, complying with the mandates of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs), and enacting and revising national laws, regulations and policies. Utilizing these legislative tools, China has effectively mitigated shark by-catch in pelagic fisheries and lower shark fin trade. Nevertheless, the legislative tools have exhibited several deficiencies, including the inability to ratify crucial international agreements, a limited capacity to meet the requirements of RFMOs, inadequate national legislations, and ineffective law enforcement mechanisms. In the future, China should explore potential avenues to improve shark conservation efforts, including ratifying relevant international agreements, strengthening the compliance capabilities of RFMOs, enhancing national legislations, and reinforcing law enforcement mechanisms.