Tiger shark's fins are a hot culinary commodity in Asian culture. Shark fins provide the main ingredient in shark-fin soup. In Hong Kong, a tureen of shark-fin soup will set you back a $100. Fishermen eager to cash in on the high price of shark fins amputate the fins of sharks and then release them, which is very cruel and inhumane.

Tiger sharks are also harvested for their flesh, which are used to make leather, and their livers, which have high levels of vitamin A that is used to make vitamin oils.

Tiger sharks are also among the sharks caught for sport by fishermen, and some governments has sponsored the fishing of tiger sharks. In Hawaii in the late 1950s, after a spate of tiger shark attacks, a state-sponsored program provided $300,000 to rid the waters of tigers. Watch this Video to see how native Hawaiians stopped the slaughter.

Even in this day and age, in South Africa, the first country to protect the Great White Shark, Marine and Coastal Management still issues permits to the Natal Sharks Board to allow them the use of gill nets (shark nets) to actively target predatory sharks. The Shark Board’s protection through eradication policy has led to huge, irrevocable and untold destruction of the animal life along the Southern African coastline.

This practice is economically motivated as towns where shark nets at present are more popular and profitable as tourist destinations than towns without nets. The best way to combat this practice and aid in conservation is to avoid and not to spend money in towns where shark nets are present.

Tiger sharks have no real predators but because of the above mentioned threats they are now listed as a near-threatened species by the World Conservation Union.

As top ocean predators, sharks maintain the balance of other populations, and they keep other species healthy by preying on the weakest members, as wolves do on land. But growing consumption of shark meat and fins, and the popularity of shark fishing for sport, has caused some shark species to decline by more than 90 percent, threatening the sharks' survival and disrupting ocean ecosystems.

Females only bear young about once every three years, perhaps because of the significant pain associated with breeding. A Single female can give birth to 10 to 80 pups, the average being around 40. Once a tiger shark is born it’s on its own, giving them a very small rate of survival.

Threats to Tiger Sharks in order of severity

1. Shark fin soup. Sharks are being harvested solely for their fins in order to make shark fin soup
2. Shark Nets
3. Teeth Trade, illegal harvesting and catching of sharks to sell their teeth, unfortunately this is an industry that is fuelled by so-called shark enthusiasts, who do not consider or understand that an animal must die in order for its teeth to be for sale.
4. Trophy fishing or fishing competitions, sharks are very vulnerable to lactic acid and when caught, will in most cases die, even when released due to the fact that they cannot rid themselves of the lactic acid and become too tired to swim, and in most cases they go and lie on the bottom of the ocean to die.
5. Pollution, tiger sharks have been known to consume plastics, metals and rubber products

What we do to protect these sharks:

• We avoid towns with shark nets.
• We are educating people, so that they are more informed and hopefully lose their fear of these incredible animals, by way of documentaries, worldwide educational talks and conferences.
• We are making them more valuable alive than dead.
• We support all legitimate research done by MCM free of charge.

What you can do to help

• Don’t buy shark products
• Don’t support towns with shark nets
• Report suspicious activities and document them with photos – MCM, newspapers, The Sharkman
• Dive with them, experience them and increase your knowledge so that you in turn can educate and teach others about sharks.