Mark Henderson, Science Editor
The Times, UK
February 18, 2008

The scalloped hammerhead shark, one of the ocean’s most distinctive and iconic species, is to be declared endangered because of the impact of overfishing to feed a burgeoning market for shark fins in China.

Populations of the shark, which was once considered among the most common top predators in coastal waters, have collapsed over the past 40 years to such an extent that it will be included on this year’s Red List of threatened species for the first time.

Another eight shark species will also be added to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assessment of extinction risk when the newest version is published in October. The short-fin mako shark, the smooth hammerhead, the bigeye thresher and the common thresher will be declared vulnerable, the silky shark will be declared near-threatened, and the tiger, bull and dusky sharks will have either vulnerable or endangered status. All these species were not considered at risk when their conservation status was last assessed but new research led by Julia Baum, of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, has revealed a rapid decline in numbers in recent years.

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