On average, five people are killed by sharks each year, but one hundred million sharks are killed by people each year.
In an effort to protect sharks and decrease shark finning, the 2009 Shark Conservation Act is currently passing through the levels of Congress. It was approved by the House of Representatives March 2 and now awaits a response from the Senate.
"It's pretty obvious who's the attacker and who's the attackee," said George Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research.
People are gradually becoming a major threat to shark populations and, as a result, the ocean's ecosystem.
Sharks frequently get caught in gill nets or long lines accidentally.
They drown as a result of not being able to move, and pass oxygen through their gills, according to Dana Ehret, a UF vertebrate paleontology graduate student.
The act sets specific regulations for boats that participate in shark finning. Among these regulations is the prohibition of the removal of shark fins while at sea. Instead, the fin must reach land attached to the shark's body, decreasing the number of sharks fishermen can catch because of storage limitations.
"This is a step in the right direction," Burgess said. "One we're very happy to see."
In the past decade, shark finning has become a growing threat to shark populations as the demand for shark fins continues to increase.
For now, fishermen slice off sharks' fins and discard the carcasses back into the ocean to save storage space on the boat. Many times, the injured shark is still alive when it is tossed overboard, and it's left to die a slow death, Ehret said.
Shark fins are used to make shark fin soup, a delicacy in Asian countries with a popular and lucrative market. In the U.S., shark fins are sold for about $30 a pound.
It is difficult to protect the shark population because it is an international resource, so countries need international agreements, Burgess said.
Another problem facing protection efforts is the difficulty of enforcing laws, Ehret said.
"It's really hard to protect things in the open water," Ehret said.
"There's so much water. Who is going to go out and patrol what's on board?"
