Oceanic whitetip sharks were once one of the most abundant large animals in the open ocean. In Pacific-island lore, these sharks were often seen as ancient messengers of the deep: feared and respected guardians whose sightings were taken as signs of approaching storms or ancestral passage.

Today, oceanic whitetip sharks are disappearing so quickly, largely due to the illegal trade of their fins for shark fin soup, that scientists warn we may soon lose them entirely.

DNA testing on more than 16,000 fins in Hong Kong, the world’s largest shark fin market, found the species appearing 70 times more often than what governments reported. In only three years, traders trafficked fins from over 36,000 illegally caught oceanic whitetip sharks. 

The scale of this is hard to imagine, and these numbers reveal a global pattern: trade regulations have not kept pace with illegal activity.

Sharks and rays are vital to the health and balance of our oceans, shaping entire marine ecosystems integrity in their role as top and sometimes apex predators, and underpinning cultural heritage for Indigenous Peoples and local communities all over the world. After amphibians, they are the second most threatened animal group on the planet. 

Whitetips are not an isolated case. Sharks and rays are experiencing one of the fastest extinction crises of any vertebrate group on Earth. More than one-third of all species—37%—are now threatened with extinction, largely because of overfishing and exploitative international trade to feed niche markets. And for species in the shark fin trade, the outlook is even worse: more than 70% of sharks meet thresholds for Vulnerable, Endangered, or Critically Endangered status on the Red List maintained by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

This was the backdrop to the conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP20) held late last year. At the conference in Uzbekistan, the global community was asked to decide whether to continue to manage shark decline, or to finally move toward shark recovery.

And the answer was resounding. Led by Panama, parties voted by overwhelming consensus to uplist the oceanic whitetip to CITES Appendix I, the highest level of protection under the convention. 

This final decision marks a decisive turning point for one of the ocean’s most imperiled species. The oceanic whitetip is the first shark species ever listed on Appendix I, meaning that they can’t be traded commercially. 

That breakthrough set the tone for the rest of the conference, paving the way for several major victories that followed, including Appendix I listings for whale sharks, as well as manta and devil rays. International commercial trade is now banned for all of them.

Uplisting the oceanic whitetip shark to Appendix I is not symbolic. It is the strongest, most effective tool countries have to stop the illegal flow of fins and give the species a chance to recover. 

Appendix I removes ambiguity. It closes loopholes. It gives enforcement officers a bright line: if it’s in the market, it shouldn’t be. 

And we know this approach works. When green turtles were banned from commercial trade in the 1980s, the global trade collapsed and populations rebounded so strongly that the species is now listed as “least concern.” For oceanic whitetip sharks, the Appendix I listing will be the difference between recovery and disappearance in the coming decades.

Shark conservation requires global leadership, and Panama is setting the pace for ocean conservation. Last week, the Ministry of Environment announced that Panama will end all trade in shark and ray products. Panama now protects 54% of its national waters, well beyond the global target to protect 30% by 2030, and was among the first countries to join the 100% Alliance, pledging to sustainably manage 100% of its ocean area. In partnership with Global Fishing Watch, Panama has stepped up efforts to monitor and combat illegal fishing. Panama was also selected to host the next CITES CoP, likely to be held in 2028, where it will help maintain global momentum for threatened species.

The illegal shark trade is a transnational challenge, and so is the solution. Countries cannot claim progress on biodiversity or climate goals while allowing critically endangered species to continue moving through international markets unchecked.