Sand Tiger Shark - Conservation Status

Conservation Status

This species is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, and as endangered under Queensland's Nature Conservation Act 1992. It is a U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service Species of Concern, which are those species that the U.S. Government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), has some concerns regarding status and threats, but for which insufficient information is available to indicate a need to list the species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, any shark caught must be released immediately with minimal harm, and is considered a prohibited species, making it illegal to harvest any part of the sand tiger shark on the United States' Atlantic coast. The population of the sand tiger has been reduced over twenty percent in the past ten years, which means the shark is considered vulnerable by the World Conservation Union. There are several factors contributing to the decline in the population of the sand tigers. Sand tigers can be caught by fishing trawls, although they are more commonly caught with a fishing line. Sand tigers' fins are a popular trade item in Japan. Shark liver oil is a popular product in beauty products such as lipstick. Thus, overfishing is a major contributor to the population decline. In northern Australia, nets are put in place to protect swimmers from sharks. Many sand tigers are caught in the nets, and then either strangled or taken by fishermen. Estuaries along the United States of America's eastern Atlantic coast houses many of the young sand tiger sharks. These estuaries are susceptible to non-point source pollution that is harmful to the pups.