US Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico
Targeted by recreational fishers, small gillnet fisheries and occasionally taken as bycatch in demersal shrimp trawls that occur along the southeast coast of the USA and Gulf of Mexico. Estimated commercial landings were 69,258 lbs dressed weight in 2000 while recreational catches of small coastal sharks were 86,167 lbs (Cortés 2002). Finetooth Shark makes up a small proportion of these landings but the actual number is unknown. The group ?small coastal sharks? includes Atlantic Sharpnose Shark (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae), Blacknose Shark (Carcharhinus acronotus) and Bonnethead Shark (Sphyrna tiburo), as well as Finetooth Shark (Carcharhinus isodon).

The Finetooth Shark is vulnerable to overfishing and depletion because of targeted fishing in gillnet fisheries in the southeastern United States (Carlson and Bethea 2007). Despite this, recent stock assessments have shown that the US population of this species is above maximum sustainable yield, with current fishing levels not threatening its viability (Cortés 2007). This species is also restricted by its limited distribution (both bathymetric and geographic), with the majority of individuals living in shallow inshore waters adjacent to built-up areas, with extensive habitat degradation and some fisheries. However, the coastal nature of this species affords it some protection because many gillnet fisheries in US state waters have been banned (NMFS 2007).

South America
Shark fisheries have increased dramatically in the southern part of the Finetooth Shark?s range during the past half-century (L.J.V. Compagno pers. comm. 2008). The species? apparent rarity is of concern in the southern part of its range because rare species captured as bycatch of coastal shark fisheries may become even rarer to the point of local extirpation as the fisheries continue, supported by the more common species (L.J.V. Compagno pers. comm. 2008).

Coastal species are the most important commercial elasmobranchs in the Southwest Atlantic, and inshore fisheries are generally very intense off southern Brazil (Bonfil et al. 2005). Intensive fishing by pair trawl, shrimp trawl, gillnet and beach seine in near-shore waters is documented off Rio Grande do Sul State (Vooren and Klippel 2005). Although this species? range does not extend to Rio Grande do Sul, similar fisheries are likely to operate throughout much of the coast of Santa Catarina to São Paulo States, from which it is known.

Fisheries in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago are generally inshore and artisanal (Chan A Shing 1999). Intensive trawling occurs in Trinidad and Tobago's waters (Mohammed and Chan A Shing 2003). Bycatch of the shrimp trawl fleet is considerably higher than the target catches. Total bycatch in these fisheries declined from 13,712 t in 1987 to 4,099 t in 2001 although the species composition of this bycatch has not yet been examined (Mohammed and Chan A Shing 2003). An artisanal gillnet and line fishery targets mackerel in coastal waters off Trinidad and Tobago and takes sharks as bycatch. This is the most widespread fishing method, accounting for over 85% of artisanal shark landings (Chan A Shing 1999).

In Guyana, there is a partially directed gillnet fishery for sharks (~600 vessels) which captures both demersal and pelagic inshore species. This fishery operates in estuarine and shallow coastal waters (at depths of <40 m) (Chan A Shing 1999). About 100 industrial shrimp trawlers also take sharks and finfish as bycatch, but no details are available on the composition of the bycatch. An artisanal demersal longline fishery targets sharks and catfish at depths of 9?20 m (Chan A Shing 1999).