The morning sun rises over the Gulf of Mexico, painting the sea in gold and crimson. A longline vessel bobs on the waves, its deck slick with saltwater and the smell of fish. Men moved in practiced rhythm, pulling in the miles of line that stretched far into the deep. Tuna was the ultimate goal of this voyage — sleek, silver torpedoes of muscle — but not every hook brought in a prize.
Sometimes, the line came up heavy, thrashing.
A shape too long, too gray.
A shark.
The crew would pause for a moment, squinting against the glare. A bigeye thresher, its tail fin as long as its body, or a silky shark with eyes that seemed to hold more awareness than anyone wanted to admit. There was no celebration then, just a sigh, a cut of the line, a muttered curse about wasted bait. Over the years, this scene had played out thousands of times, across hundreds of boats. Mexico’s shark bycatch was never the main story, just background noise in the larger pursuit of tuna. But for the ocean, those “unintentional” catches told a different story, one written in slow, silent decline beneath the waves. For years, Mexico has been one of the world’s top shark-fishing nations due to its longline vessels hauling in countless sharks as unintentional bycatch. Yet despite repeated promises to the international community, the country lagged in enforcing rules to protect some of the ocean’s most vulnerable species.
Now, that’s finally changing.
In mid-October, Mexico announced long-awaited national bans that prohibit the capture, retention, and trade of five groups of threatened Atlantic sharks, signaling a long-overdue step toward compliance with global conservation standards. The newly protected species include bigeye threshers (Alopias superciliosus), oceanic whitetips (Carcharhinus longimanus), shortfin makos (Isurus oxyrinchus), hammerheads (all Sphyrna species except the bonnethead shark Sphyrna tiburo), and silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis); these are some of the most recognizable and ecologically vital predators in our oceans that also happen to be among the most imperiled, their populations decimated by overfishing and the global fin trade.
For conservationists, this move comes as both a relief and a source of frustration — it’s the right decision, yes, but one that should have been made years ago. “Although long overdue, Mexico’s new shark protections have the potential to significantly bolster international conservation efforts for some of the Atlantic’s most imperiled species,” said Sonja Fordham, President of Shark Advocates International, part of the Shark League coalition in a press release she forwarded to me via e-mail.
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The bans are thankfully more than symbolic, as they are a legal requirement for Mexico under the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the intergovernmental body that manages tuna and tuna-like species and, by extension, the sharks often caught alongside them. Between 2009 and 2021, ICCAT has adopted measures to protect these species, recognizing that migratory sharks don’t respect national borders and that effective conservation requires cooperation across countries. But those international commitments only work when individual nations follow through. Mexico, until now, had not. For years, it was cited by ICCAT’s Compliance Committee for failing to provide adequate data, enact domestic regulations, or even demonstrate progress on shark conservation. Reports from the Shark League (a partnership between Shark Advocates International, the Shark Trust, Ecology Action Centre, and PADI AWARE) regularly highlighted Mexico as one of the biggest gaps in the Atlantic’s shark protection network.
That’s why this announcement feels like a long-delayed turning point.
Under the new regulation, Mexican longline vessels fishing for tuna in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the broader ICCAT Convention Area must release any of the listed shark species “in the best possible condition for survival.” They can no longer be retained on board, landed, or traded, whether whole or in parts. On paper, it’s a major win for conservation! Ali Hood, Director of Conservation at the UK-based Shark Trust, put it plainly: “Most of the shark species subject to Mexico’s new retention bans — including the Critically Endangered oceanic whitetip and the exceptionally vulnerable bigeye thresher — were granted protections by ICCAT well over a decade ago. We simply must pick up the pace and raise the priority for implementing these vital safeguards.”
Sharks are perfectly adapted predators that have ruled the oceans for more than 400 million years, yet their evolutionary success is also their downfall in today’s fast-paced, industrialized world. Unlike bony fish that can spawn thousands of eggs in a single season, most sharks grow slowly, mature late, and give birth to only a handful of pups after long gestation periods. When those individuals are lost to fishing — whether they are targeted or caught accidentally — recovery can take decades, if it happens at all. That’s why every year of inaction matters. A missed deadline here, a delayed policy there, by the time data catches up to what’s happening in the water, many shark populations have already plummeted beyond easy repair. Thus, a decade of inaction can mean the difference between a population recovering… or collapsing. And Mexico’s delayed compliance has not gone unnoticed by global conservation authorities. In 2023, its hammerhead shark trade was flagged under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species for “special scrutiny” during its first-ever Review of Significant Trade for sharks, signaling that the global community had lost patience with empty promises and half-measures. Time is no longer a luxury they have. Still, there’s reason for cautious hope. As Shannon Arnold from the Ecology Action Centre said, “Effective international conservation of migratory species depends on follow-up actions at the national level.” It underscores the broader challenge: treaties and global pledges mean little without domestic policies to back them up. Now that Mexico has taken this long-overdue step, conservation groups are urging other ICCAT member nations that are still lagging to do the same.
It’s also worth noting that this isn’t just about saving sharks for the sake of biodiversity. Healthy shark populations help maintain the balance of marine ecosystems; as apex predators, they regulate prey species, keeping coral reefs, seagrass beds, and open-ocean food webs functioning. Their loss can trigger cascading effects that undermine fisheries, coastal livelihoods, and ocean health as a whole. So for a country with a deep maritime heritage like Mexico, protecting sharks is both an environmental responsibility and an opportunity. By strengthening its shark management practices, Mexico can ensure the sustainability of its fisheries and set an example for other nations that have yet to meet their obligations.
The ICCAT Compliance Committee will revisit these issues in November during its meeting in Seville, Spain, and all eyes will be on whether Mexico’s new regulations are effectively implemented and enforced. After years of scrutiny and stalled promises, the hope among conservationists is that this time, the follow-through matches the headlines. Perhaps the country can rebuild trust within international conservation circles. But the ocean doesn’t wait for bureaucracy to catch up. For sharks already swimming on the edge of extinction, Mexico’s move is a necessary start. Now comes the hard part: making sure it lasts.
