The Causes and Consequences of Public Misunderstanding of Shark Conservation

Sharks and their relatives face serious conservation challenges. In addition to more effective implementation of regulations already on the books, they need more and stronger conservation and management policies to prevent the extinction of many species, which would have associated negative ecological and economic consequences. Many members of the public are aware of and concerned by shark conservation challenges, but there is widespread misunderstanding of the threats to sharks and the available policy solutions to address those threats. Such misunderstanding has been spread by both well-intentioned but uninformed shark enthusiasts (i.e., people who care and want to help but have limited or incorrect knowledge of key facts and evidence) and also by extremist activist organizations (i.e., those far outside of mainstream norms). Specifically, many members of the public incorrectly believe that the practice of shark finning (and associated demand for shark fins) is the largest or only threat to sharks. In general, the public is far less familiar with widely used and effective tools such as sustainable fisheries management as a solution to shark conservation threats. Many members of the public incorrectly believe that banning the 1% of the global shark fin trade that is the most sustainable will be a major victory for shark conservation. Many members of the public are heavily influenced by information from uninformed extremists rather than from experts. These misunderstandings result in suboptimal policy outcomes, and even conflict between stakeholder groups that ostensibly share goals or desired outcomes. This perspective summarizes a decade of work attempting to understand the causes and consequences of widespread misunderstanding about shark conservation threats and solutions, mapping each along the Science-Policy Interface. It also proposes solutions focusing on sharing our hard-earned expertise with the interested public in an accessible format.