Shark Conservation Fund

🗓️ NEW SIDE EVENT ADDED Grants 101: what are donors looking for? Join funders (Marine Conservation Action Fund at the New England Aquarium, Save Our Seas Foundation, Shark Conservation Fund) for a discussion on their respective funding priorities and criteria, as well as what they’re looking for in a project/grant application. After a brief overview of their grant programmes, delegates will be able to ask any questions they may have about funding and grant applications. 🗓️ Friday 8 May | 13:15-14:15 (Hall A)

Thanks to the generous support of Shark Conservation Fund, the Angel Shark Project has been able to work over the last three years (2022–2025) to strengthen the protection and conservation of angel sharks. This support has enabled the project to make significant progress in protecting this Critically Endangered species in 7 countries across the NE Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea🌊 Furthermore, SCF will continue to support the project over the next two years (2026–2028), focusing on strengthening protection measures and improving spatial management in two hotspots for these species 🦈 @museumkoenig @ulpgc_para_ti @officialzsl @isea_org @wwf_adria @marinebiologyinlibya @irishelasmobranchs @univcorse

The Shark Conservation Fund is heading to Sharks International 2026, taking place in Sri Lanka. As a supporter of the conference, SCF is eager to connect with a global community working to advance shark, ray, and chimaera conservation. We look forward to seeing you there! #SI2026

What does it look like when the world's largest shark consuming nation starts to change course? Brazil, long considered the largest importer and consumer of sharks worldwide, just took meaningful steps in the opposite direction and toward stronger shark protections: A new export regulation for blue sharks now requires fins to remain attached to a landed shark, making species traceability easier and fin laundering harder, and females and juveniles must be released. Imports of shark species listed as threatened under Brazilian law are now prohibited – a significant step for a country that has long been a major driver of global shark trade. Additionally, a federal court also ruled that shark and ray meat sold in government-run institutions, like schools and hospitals, must identify the species. For years, shark and ray meat has been sold under a generic label, obscuring which species are being consumed and overlooking public health risks, as shark meat contains elevated mercury levels and other contaminants. Real recovery will require systemic changes that go far beyond these measures but, for the world's largest shark consuming nation, this is an encouraging start. 🔗 Link in bio to learn more. . . . 📸 : Nicolas-SB / Shutterstock

Some of the most threatened and wide-ranging sharks just received landmark international protections that span the full length of their migratory ranges! Conserving highly migratory sharks is uniquely complex because their ranges cross borders, making coordinated international efforts essential. International treaties like the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) coordinate protection of migratory animals across their full ranges. Last month, at the CMS Conference of the Parties (CoP15) member governments agreed to list all three thresher shark species (pelagic, bigeye, and common), great hammerheads, and scalloped hammerheads on Appendix I - the highest level of protection CMS offers. This listing requires governments to prohibit take, reduce human-caused mortality, protect their critical habitats, and mitigate any migration barriers across these species' ranges. Patagonian narrownose smoothhounds, one of the most heavily landed sharks in Argentina and Uruguay, were listed on Appendix II, driving stronger regional cooperation across Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil on monitoring, data sharing, and fisheries management. With these listings, the obligation is now in place, but whether they translate to effective species recovery will depend on how urgently and effectively each country acts. 🔗 Link in bio to read more. . . . 📹: @valinwaves

The Shark Conservation Fund’s 2025 Impact Report is live! 🦈 2025 marked a significant step forward for shark and ray conservation, with sustained, strategic investments delivering measurable results at the scale needed to address the global crisis. Since 2016, SCF has worked to strengthen coordination across the global conservation community and advance solutions designed for lasting impact. The progress highlighted in this report reflects that continued commitment — and the collective work of our partners around the world. We are especially grateful to former Executive Director Lee Crockett for his leadership over the past decade, which helped build the strong foundation reflected in this year’s results. As SCF moves into its next chapter under John Mandelman, we remain focused on accelerating progress and building on this momentum. 🔗 Read the full 2025 Impact Report at the link in bio.

The Shark Conservation Fund is excited to announce the opening of our 2026 Small Grants Program Request for Proposals. We are offering grants of up to $25,000 to support projects aligned with our core objectives: 🌍 Fisheries or environmental management reforms for sharks and rays 🌊 Protection of coastal or ocean habitats for sharks and rays 🦈 Protections for imperiled and/or endemic shark and ray species For more details, please visit the Request for Proposals announcement on our website, also linked in bio. Concept notes will be accepted until March 31, 2026. For additional inquiries, please contact our team at [email protected].

The Maugean skate is found nowhere on Earth except Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour, where poor water quality from industrial salmon farming remains the primary threat to its survival. Shark Conservation Fund grantee, Australian Marine Conservation, has long called for urgent action to address the root causes of this decline. Recently, Australia’s federal environment minister renewed the skate’s Endangered status. This recognition must now lead to decisive action to protect the Maugean skate and its only home. 🔗 Link in bio to read more.

With well over 500 species, the roles sharks play roles in ecosystems are as diverse as they are! We often think of them as just predators, but sharks actually play a whole multitude of roles that maintain the health and vibrancy of marine ecosystems – and some even function as ‘mobile habitats’, supporting a remarkable community of species around them! Link in bio for the study. /article/97864/ Check it out: 📹 #Repost @galapagossharkdiving : Whale sharks are never really alone. Wherever they go, others follow. Scientists studying whale sharks in the Galápagos documented an entire community traveling with them — remoras, jacks, tuna, even sharks. Some hitch a ride. Some hunt in their shadow. Some simply take advantage of the giant moving through the blue. A whale shark isn’t just a species. It’s a living ecosystem. 🔗 Full scientific paper here: https://zurl.co/yvdzb Find more information about the @galapagos_whale_shark_project https://zurl.co/ofK9h

One of the ocean’s most unique and elusive sharks has appeared in a surprising new place! 🦈✨ A goblin shark was recently spotted off Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, making it one of fewer than 250 ever documented. This first-of-its-kind sighting expands our understanding of goblin shark distribution and underscores the importance of protecting deep-water habitats, home to some of the ocean’s rarest and most mysterious species, as we deepen our understanding of the mysterious deep sea. 🔗 Read more at link in bio. . . . 📸: Oceanographic Magazine

Last November, countries from around the world gathered in Samarkand, Uzbekistan for the conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP20). At the forefront, Panama led the charge in listing oceanic whitetip sharks on CITES Appendix I, making them the first-ever shark species to receive the highest level of international protection - a complete ban on commercial trade. This momentum continues, bringing whale sharks, mantas rays and devil rays under commercial bans, as well. And now, Panama takes another major step for shark and ray conservation by indefinitely prohibiting the export of all CITES-listed sharks and rays! This bold decision strengthens protections for threatened species such as hammerheads and silky sharks, helping reduce overexploitation driven by international trade. By keeping these animals in the water and giving them a chance to recover, Panama is also safeguarding the health and biodiversity of the marine ecosystems they help sustain. This is CITES in action – turning international agreements into strong national action. Well done, Panama! 👏 🔗 Read the @time story at the link in bio. 📸: Shawn Heinrichs (@shawnheinrichs )

The ocean is facing a biodiversity crisis, and sharks - the second-most endangered vertebrate on the planet - are at the heart of it. Healthy shark populations balance food webs, support thriving reefs and seagrasses, and sustain fisheries relied on by billions. Their decline has far-reaching impacts on ocean health and biodiversity. The good news: this decline is not inevitable. Robust protections for shark species can bend back the curve. At the Shark Conservation Fund, we believe that investing in shark conservation is a catalyst for confronting the wider biodiversity crisis. It’s not just about species recovery – it’s about restoring ecosystems, securing the ocean’s future, and supporting the countless lives that depend on it. 🔗 Dive into the review at the link in bio.