The main threat to the porbeagle shark is over-exploitation in target and bycatch fisheries. Both catch juvenile and adult sharks of all different life stages when there is no management involved. Porbeagle shark is a valuable secondary catch in many fisheries, in particular for longline fisheries for tuna and swordfish, but also gill nets, driftnets, trawls and handlines can trap a porbeagle shark. Between 2009 and 2010, the highest porbeagle catches were made by France (305 tonnes, 9 tonnes), Spain (239 tonnes, 70 tonnes), Canada (63 tonnes, 83 tonnes) and New Zealand (63 tonnes, 56 tonnes) (FAO-FIGIS, 2012). Although no porbeagle catch data from Japan, Taiwan, China and Korea are available in the reports of FISHSTAT (ICCAT SCRS/ICES, 2009).
