Editor's note: We thank Hitandehui Tovar* for her contribution to this article.

In recent months more than 6 thousand signatures were gathered on a petition in support of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) initiative to have governments order the inclusion of the Hammerhead Shark in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

By doing so, more strict controls are sought for international commerce, where there is great demand for shark fins for use in shark fin soup.  This demand is responsible for the drastic reduction of hammerhead shark populations, which has merited its classification as a species in danger of extinction, according to the IUCN Red List.

The Government of Mexico is one of the initiative's proponents, along with Costa Rica, Brazil, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, and Honduras.

In the Upper Gulf, it is the juvenile hammerhead sharks that need to be protected, while adults are found farther down the Gulf, from Isla San Jorge southward.  Deep sea fishing boats are responsible for their capture in the region.

Although the shark is considered by-catch and not a commercial species in the zone, it is known that many times part of the shark’s hammer is cut off to allow it to pass as a dogfish. And since it is sold without the head, it's difficult to know what species it was.

The sharks are particularly sensitive to overfishing given their tendency to mature late, and  their  relatively low  reproduction  rate,