The issue?

Sharks world wide are being highly portrayed as a vicious

predator that is lurking in the oceans, waiting for its chance

 to attack innocent civilians. For this reason people do not

 pay much attention to the many issues surrounding

 this species that are in fact threatening their populations.

Increasingly they are harvested for their fins and meat

whilst also being culled due to the belief that they pose

a threat to society. 

Throughout the world sharks are being harvested for

 a number of reasons, these including for their fins and culling 

due to the belief that it will reduce the number of ‘attacks’ on humans.

Small snippet from the 1975  Steven Speilberg film 'Jaws' - This film as well as many others instilled fear of sharks in many people world wide.

Sharks Are Important 
Why? 

Sharks are an apex predator (keystone species) which means that they are at the top of the marine food chain, controlling the populations of their prey. Scientist have said on a number of accounts that without sharks the marine food chain would collapse completely. 

e.g. in the mid atlantic the shark population was destroyed, this saw their prey, the clown nose string ray population to grown excessively, ending it the complete depletion of scallops in that region.