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Though shark fishery was a target fishery in Sri Lanka in the past, it has become a non-target fishery at present. Sharks are mostly caught as a by-catch in the tuna fishery. The production statistics over the last five years (2013-2017) provided by the large pelagic fishery database (PELAGOS) of National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) in Sri Lanka was used to analyze the recent trends in the shark landings. The recent regulations imposed on banning of three thresher shark species with Oceanic white tip shark and whale shark has resulted a considerable decline in the shark landings. At present, the relative contribution of shark production to large pelagic fish production has become less than 2%. During the past, it remained even more than 4 %. The shark catches in terms of number of species at present are not diverse like reported in the past. The shark catch is mainly comprised of (nearly 57%) Silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis) followed by Blue sharks and Shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrhinchus) respectively. Though the silky shark was the dominant shark species in recent years, blue shark (Prionace glauca) landings were dominated in 2017 by 7% than silky shark catch. Landings of Silky sharks were peaked in 2013 (1247Mt) and after, there was a considerable decline in the shark catches reported within Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as well as in high seas. But, there is an increasing trend of blue shark and other shark landings mainly reported within Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). During the past decade, most of the shark species have been caught mainly by the longline-gillnet combination. During 2013 - 2017, longline has become the dominant fishing gear responsible for higher shark landings. At present, more than 80% of silky sharks are caught by Longline. This study reveals that shark catches have considerably declined over last five years and recent management initiatives on sharks could be one of the possible reasons. At present, Sri Lanka is in the process of reviewing the previous National Plan of Action (NPOA) implemented with the aim of conservation and management of sharks and a new NPOA will be formulated accordingly for further strengthening the research, conservation and management of sharks.
