Species Use Database

Smooth Hammerhead Shark
Sphyrna zygaena

Used for Food and feed in Atlantic - northwest

A. Species

Scientific name: Sphyrna zygaena

Common name(s): Smooth Hammerhead Shark

Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Vulnerable


B. Location of use

Geographic location(s):

  • Atlantic - northwest

Country/Region:


C. Scale of assessment

Scale of assessment: National Level

Name/Details of location: Northwest Atlantic Ocean


D. Timescale of use

Start Year: 2015

End Year: 2015


E. Information about the use

How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat

Type of use: Extractive

Practice of use: Targeted fishing harvesting/exploiting or collecting wild aquatic resources

Lethal or non-lethal: Lethal

Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism

Purpose(s) of end use: Food and feed

Motivation of use: Largescale commercial exploitation for trade and Recreational

Is this use legal or illegal?: Legal under national law


F. Information about the Users

Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people, National / local government and National / local private sector


G. Information about the sustainability of use

Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered sustainable

Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: "The Division of Scientific Authority (DSA), Based on the information and data available, and management measures currently in place, finds that the export of wild hammerhead sharks harvested by U.S. fishermen in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean in the 2017 and 2018 harvest seasons is not detrimental to the survival of the species, provided the harvest is in compliance with the U.S. management plan in place for the species."

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: not recorded

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: not recorded

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: not recorded

Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: not recorded


Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species


Record source

Information about the record source: grey_lit

Date of publication/issue/production: 2020-01-01T00:00:00+0000

Source Reference(s):

CITES (2020). Joint Sessions of the 31st Meeting of the Animals Committee and the 25th Meeting of the Plants Committee Geneva (Switzerland), 17 July 2020.

Date of record entry: 2023-06-05


Records from the same source material: