Singapore is a major dealer in endangered and CITES protected shark fins and is ignoring international protections for endangered Silky and hammerhead sharks and re-exporting to China.

Singapore is a globally significant trade hub of wildlife products and is a major importer and consumer of shark fin. A study of fin trade between 2005 and 2014 revealed that Singapore was the world’s second largest importer (14, 114 tonnes) and re-exported (12,405 tonnes) of shark fins globally. In that study, the researchers found five species protected under CITES including the basking shark, oceanic whitetip shark, scalloped hammerhead shark, and the porbeagle shark.

Singapore is a the second-most significant trading hub for the world shark fin trade after Hong Kong, ranking as the world's second largest importer and exporter in value In 2024.

Shark fins are the staple ingredient of the delicacy shark fin soup consumed throughout Southeast Asia. A global trade, most shark fins are consumed in China.

The recent study, conducted by the National University of Singapore, the researchers Shen et al., collected 505 shark fin samples from 25 different local seafood and Traditional Chinese Medicine shops. Through DNA analysis, the team identified 27 species of shark, with three species listed as Critically Endangered, four as Endangered, and ten as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The researchers reported that the top five most frequently encountered species are the Milk shark (Rhizoprionodon acutus), Silky Shark (Carcharhinus falciformis), School Shark (Galeorhinus galeus), Scalloped Hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini), and the Giant Hammerhead (Sphyrna zygaena). Milk sharks are a widely distributed, nearshore, Requiem shark, with concerns of overexploitation. The other top four species represented are all listed as critically endangered by the IUCN. Scalloped Hammerhead and the Great Hammerhead are both listed under CITES* Appendix II requiring, extensive reporting and permitting to export or import. School (or Soupfin) sharks are Threatened and experiencing a severe global decline in population.

Silky sharks are critically endangered, a CITES II protected species, and vulnerable as bycatch. This species has suffered a global decline in population between 70 and 90%. In all, six species in the study were listed on CITES Appendix II, meaning that the trade must be controlled in order to avoid overfishing or risk of extinction.

Learn more about the global shark fin trade. 

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