Finning is the biggest slaughter of Sharks in general. Every year Millions of Sharks are caught, theyre fins are hacked off and then the shark is thrown back into the ocean to drown. Wasteful and the whole process needs to be improved and regulated.
Sharks in general are very slow breeders.
Typically great whites will not be able to breed untill around 14 - 15 years old.

Sharks like fish can not keep up with mans appetite and soon there will be none....

JAMES REYNOLDS
ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT


IMMORTALISED in Peter Benchley's classic novel Jaws, the great white
shark has evolved over millions of years to become the most powerful
predator the oceans have ever known.

But despite its position at the top of the food chain, the great
white is now in serious trouble, according to conservationists.

A new list of the top ten species most at risk from unregulated
international trade reveals that the demand for teeth, jaws and fins
to create cheap tourist trinkets and exotic dishes in the Far East,
coupled with increased commercial and sport fishing, is pushing the
animal ever closer to extinction.

The list, published every two years by the wildlife conservation
group WWF, confirms that buying, selling, killing, capturing or
smuggling such animals is still a lucrative business for those
willing to take the risk.

The publication comes as delegates from 166 countries prepare to
travel to Bangkok next month for the meeting of the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Considered by the
WWF as the world's most important wildlife agreement, CITES is the
only global treaty that regulates trade in threatened and endangered
animals and plants. It is perhaps best known for helping reduce
poaching of African elephants by banning ivory sales in 1989.

The other species on the WWF list are: the humphead (or Maori)
wrasse, tiger, Irrawady dolphin, Asian elephant, pig-nosed turtle,
yellow-crested cockatoo, leaf-tailed gecko, Asian yew trees and the
tropical hardwood ramin.

Stuart Chapman, head of WWF-UK's species programme, said: "Powerful
predators like the great white have a certain mystique, and this has
created a demand for souvenirs like teeth and jaws, but they are
also killed for their fins, which are made into soup. Trade controls
are urgently needed to ensure this magnificent animal is not fished
out of our seas completely."

http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=1059512004