Costa Rica’s silky shark trade faces scrutiny amid global decline

The story in brief

What you need to know

• The reported 82% figure measures Costa Rica’s share of direct exports, not its share of silky shark deaths or the proportion of the global population caught there. A Costa Rican fisheries scientist has cautioned against treating the export share as a measure of fishing mortality.15
• The global conservation picture is concerning: the IUCN assessment published in 2021 classifies silky sharks as Vulnerable and reports a declining population trend. That assessment does not establish the scale or cause of any current decline in Costa Rican waters.21
• Conservation advocates question whether Costa Rica’s exports are sustainable and have raised concerns about quotas, reporting and oversight. Those concerns remain contested, rather than settled by the export statistics alone.15
• NOAA reports that Costa Rica did not meet the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission’s 5% scientific-observer coverage requirement for qualifying longline fishing effort in 2022, 2023 or 2024.4
• NOAA also records Costa Rica’s progress towards a pilot observer and electronic-monitoring programme, which it describes as expected to meet the coverage requirement. The report does not establish that the pilot has been implemented or that the requirement is now met.4

Conservation context

Why this matters

Silky sharks are globally assessed as Vulnerable and declining, while available reporting describes Costa Rica as a major exporter. Understanding whether trade is sustainable requires evidence connecting exports with catches, fishing effort and population impacts, rather than relying on export share alone.125

The developing story

What happens next

Mongabay reports that data on the fishery are due to be considered in June 2027, and that any export suspension would be conditional rather than an achieved measure. The CITES Animals Committee records and the Secretariat’s final record will be important for clarifying whether Costa Rica was formally selected for a significant-trade review.136

Established evidence

What we know

• Mongabay, citing a UNEP-WCMC report, puts Costa Rica’s share of direct global silky shark product exports at about 82% for 2020–2024.1
• The IUCN assessment published in 2021 classifies silky sharks as Vulnerable and reports a declining global population trend.2
• The CITES Animals Committee met in Geneva from 13 to 17 July 2026, and official records include documents on significant-trade review.3
• NOAA reports a shortfall against the 5% observer-coverage requirement for qualifying Costa Rican longline fishing effort in each of 2022, 2023 and 2024.4

Open questions

What we don't know

• The supplied sources do not establish whether Costa Rica was formally selected for a CITES Review of Significant Trade, or whether its fishery is being scrutinised through another process.136
• The reporting does not provide a current, species-specific estimate of silky shark population trends or fishing mortality in Costa Rican waters.125
• It remains unclear how the reported exports connect to catches, landings and ocean basins, or how much of the catch consists of immature sharks.15
• The supplied evidence does not confirm whether the observer and electronic-monitoring pilot has been implemented or whether Costa Rica now meets the relevant coverage requirement.4

Source coverage

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