Silky Shark - Human Interactions

Human Interactions

Given its formidable size and dentition, the silky shark is regarded as potentially dangerous to humans. However, it only rarely comes into contact with people due to its oceanic habits. Its natural curiosity and boldness may lead it to repeatedly and closely approach divers, and it can become dangerously excited in the presence of food. The silky shark tends to be more aggressive if encountered on a reef than in open water. There are cases of individual sharks persistently harassing divers and even forcing them out of the water. As of May 2009, the International Shark Attack File lists six attacks attributable to the silky shark, three of them unprovoked and none fatal.

Large numbers of silky sharks are caught by commercial and artisanal multi-species shark fisheries operating off Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, the United States, Ecuador, Spain, Portugal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Yemen, and Côte d'Ivoire. Even greater numbers are caught incidentally by tuna longline and purse seine fisheries throughout its range, particularly those using fish aggregating devices (FADs). It is the most common shark caught as bycatch in the eastern Pacific and Gulf of Mexico tuna fisheries, and the second-most common shark caught as bycatch (next to the blue shark) overall. The fins are valued as an ingredient in shark fin soup, with captured sharks often finned at sea and the rest of the body discarded. Fins from an estimated one-half to one and a half million silky sharks are traded globally per year; it is the second or third-most common species auctioned on the Hong Kong fin market, which represents over half the global trade. The meat (sold fresh or dried and salted), skin, and liver oil may also be utilized, as well as the jaws: this species is the predominant source of dried shark jaw curios sold to tourists in the tropics. Some sport fishers catch silky sharks.