Shark fins are highly prized in China. Until recently, the eating of shark fin was a delicacy restricted to the rich, the report cited Julia Baum of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) shark specialist group as saying. But as China’s middle class has grown, she said, so has the market for shark fins.
"If we carry on the way that we are, we’re looking at a really high risk of extinction for some of these shark species within the next few decades," Baum was quoted as saying.
Overfishing has caused a 90% decline in shark populations across the world’s oceans, the report added.
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