Human Interactions
The pelagic thresher has never been implicated in an attack on humans; it has small jaws and teeth for its size and tends to flee from divers. This shark is taken by commercial fisheries in the central Pacific and western Indian Oceans, as well as off California and Mexico. Abundant off northeastern Taiwan, it comprises over 12% (c. 3,100 fish, 220 metric tons) of the annual Taiwanese shark landings. The meat is sold for human consumption, the skin is made into leather, and the fins used for shark fin soup in Asia. The squalene oil in the liver of the pelagic thresher can comprise 10% of its weight, and is used in the manufacture of cosmetics, health foods, and high-grade machine oil.
Though rarely caught, pelagic threshers are also valued by sport fishers and are listed as game fish by the International Game Fish Association. The largest overall records are from New Zealand, while the light tackle records are from California. Pelagic threshers are frequently taken as bycatch on longlines and in driftnets meant for other species such as tuna, and also rarely in gillnets and anti-shark nets. All three thresher shark species were assessed as Vulnerable by the IUCN in 2007, as their low fecundity cannot sustain high levels of exploitation.
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