North Atlantic mako sharks are a key apex predator found in most oceans, they are often fished as bycatch by fisherman but kept for meat and fins. Makos are the second most caught shark by high-line fisheries and net fisheries. A mako fin is extremely valuable and wanted across the world. They are on the global extinction watch list, however they continue to be fished and killed, at high demand none the less. The 2017 ICCAT stock assessment says they are extremely overfished in the North Atlantic and are becoming a greatly declining population, as they have lost 60% of their population in the last 75 years. (Schultz et al., 2025). They move up to 70km/H and are the fastest shark in the world, but can they outrun over-fishing? 

Makos are getting fought for in some parts of the world – ICCAT in 2020 proposed a new ban on fishing the quick shark (David W. Sims, science.org, 2021), but ultimately failed getting the proposal through into action. Estimates say that the North Atlantic population could possibly recover if we fish less than 300 tons a year. Which seems like quite a bit, however we are fishing and killing nearly 6 times that number. The reality is looking like about an 8% chance of the North Atlantic population recovering. The problem with fishing makos – even when they are released they still have a 30% post-release death rate. Catching them at all can do damage, but mitigating the number getting killed would begin to reverse the damage done to their populations through fishing. These pelagic fish have slow reproductive rates and low productivity rates already so recouping the population is going to be difficult. The north Atlantic population is not the only one in trouble, around the world these sharks are getting overfished and over finned. Although it doesn’t seem to bother anything on land, these sharks regulate the ecosystem vastly – extinction would be detrimental, as these sharks regulate the population of bluefish and many other species. 

These sharks have been featured on the Appendix II of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora – which regulates some of the trading for this species, preventing some of the finning. Retention of the shark was also banned in 2021 through ICCAT, helping lower post-catch deaths. However, this is not nearly enough, the only true way to protect them is to prevent finning and fishing of these sharks. Higher regulation and reserves where makos are found could help repopulate the species. Ultimately spreading awareness of the danger of overfishing these sharks could save the population of North Atlantic makos. 

• David W. Sims et al.

 ,Shortfin mako sharks speeding to the brink.Science371,355-355(2021).DOI:10.1126/science.abg2355

Schultz, M., Hoffmayer, E. R., Sulikowski, J. A., & Byrne, M. E. (2025). Bycatch survival of shortfin mako sharks (Isurus oxyrinchus) in the U.S. Atlantic pelagic longline fishery. PLOS One, 20(9), e0330999. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0330999

Shortfin Mako | British Sea Fishing. (2013, February 18). British Sea Fishing | Information and Advice on Sea Fishing across the UK. https://britishseafishing.co.uk/shortfin-mako/