Avannaata Kommunia, a municipality in northwest Greenland, approved a proposal in February 2026 to pay DKK 300 for each Greenland shark heart, with a target of 1,000 sharks and a total allocation of DKK 300,000. But the bounty is not currently going ahead: The Guardian reported on October 5, 2026, that it had been dropped after Greenland’s government questioned its legality. The decision does not rule out a future cull.
The controversy pits fishers’ reported losses from sharks entangling fishing gear against concern for an unusually slow-growing species that is vulnerable to added fishing mortality. Greenland sharks may live for centuries, but their exact ages are estimates, and the size and direction of their populations remain uncertain.
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Why did Greenland propose killing 1,000 sharks?
The proposal came from Avannaata Kommunia, which covers communities in northwest Greenland. Fishers say Greenland sharks become tangled in longlines, gillnets and trawls, costing them gear, time and catch. The municipality’s mayor, Lars Erik Gabrielsen, described the goal as protecting fishers’ livelihoods and food supply.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchTimotheus Petersen, chair of the fishing association in Kullorsuaq, told The Guardian that one longline costs 1,599 kroner and said replacement costs can prevent fishers from finishing a trip. That is an attributed example, not an independently established average cost of lost gear.
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In February 2026, the municipal council approved a bounty of DKK 300 per shark heart, intending to remove 1,000 sharks for a total allocation of DKK 300,000, according to Oceans North Kalaallit Nunaat. The council’s rationale was to reduce disruption to fishing, but the proposed payment was not evidence that the cull would achieve that result.
Is the cull still happening?
No, not as reported on October 7, 2026. The Guardian reported on October 5 that the plan had been dropped after Greenland’s government questioned whether it was legal. That is the reported status of this proposal, not a permanent ban on future culls.
The bounty was a municipal proposal. It should not be confused with the separate regional fishing rules adopted by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), which apply in the NAFO Regulatory Area and do not establish a blanket rule for every Greenland fishery.
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How old can Greenland sharks get?
Greenland sharks are among the longest-lived vertebrates known, and the species may live for centuries. A 2016 study used radiocarbon dating of eye-lens tissue from 28 female sharks. It estimated the oldest sampled shark at 392 years old, with uncertainty of plus or minus 120 years; the reported range is 272–512 years. The result is an estimate, not a definitive age for an individual shark.
The researchers used eye lenses because Greenland sharks lack the hard structures and growth bands commonly used to estimate shark ages. Proteins in the lens form before birth and persist, allowing scientists to use radiocarbon dating, as NOAA explains in its Greenland shark overview. NOAA reports growth of less than 1 centimetre per year and says the sharks can exceed 6 metres in length. These figures describe the species; they do not mean every shark reaches the oldest estimated age or maximum size.
Why does a long life make the species vulnerable?
Slow growth and very late maturity mean Greenland sharks cannot quickly replace animals lost to fishing. When mortality is added to a population that reproduces slowly, recovery can be difficult. The concern is not that the species has been shown to be on the brink of extinction: its population size and trends are poorly known, so the scale and timing of any decline are uncertain.
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In its 2025 assessment, Canada’s Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) reported that the International Union for Conservation of Nature classified the Greenland shark as Vulnerable in 2020, after moving it from Near Threatened. The reassessment cited reconstructed estimates suggesting declines as well as continuing fishing risks. Vulnerable signals risk; it does not supply an exact global population count or an extinction timetable.
How much bycatch pressure is there?
Greenland sharks are caught incidentally in commercial fisheries, a pressure that is difficult to count accurately. COSEWIC’s 2025 assessment cited an estimate of at least 3,500 Greenland sharks caught worldwide as bycatch each year, while warning that this may be a gross underestimate. Some Atlantic Canadian fisheries have observer coverage as low as 0–5%, reporting varies, and many regions lack data.
For Canada, observer records from 2000–2021 corresponded to a mean estimate of 502.2 sharks annually. That figure reflects observed bycatch records and was not scaled to compensate for incomplete observer coverage; it is not directly comparable to a complete national or global total. The assessment is available from COSEWIC’s 2025 Greenland shark assessment.
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Would a local cull solve the gear problem?
That is unresolved. Oceans North Kalaallit Nunaat acknowledges fishers’ difficulties but disputes whether killing sharks addresses the causes of lost gear. The organization says shark teeth are unlikely to cut ropes unless an animal struggles for a long time, and points to weather, currents, rocky seabeds and ghost gear as other possible sources of equipment loss.
Oceans North also argues that a cull could have only a short-term local effect because Greenland sharks move long distances. It warns that discarded fish and carcasses might attract more sharks. These are the organization’s assessments, not demonstrated outcomes of the proposed Avannaata bounty.
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There is a historical precedent, but it does not establish effectiveness. A 2007 Danish Technical University report recorded 19,697 shark hearts submitted under a bounty scheme in the former Uummannaq municipality between 1986 and 2001, as reported by The Guardian. Avannaata’s council also cited a separate early-2000s bounty in Aasiaat. The available accounts do not show whether either program reduced gear losses or shark abundance.
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What alternatives have been proposed?
Conservation and fisheries participants have discussed measures aimed at gear loss, shark mortality or better evidence. The suggestions are proposals, not proven fixes, and the sources do not establish their comparative costs or effectiveness in Avannaata.
- Recover lost gear: Ghost-gear clean-ups could address equipment left in the water, though they would not prevent every future loss.
- Compensate for lost gear: A compensation scheme could reduce the financial burden on fishers without requiring sharks to be killed. Its funding and eligibility would need to be worked out for remote communities.
- Test acoustic deterrents: Trials could assess whether sound-based devices keep sharks away from fishing gear. Their effectiveness in local conditions has not been established.
- Improve bycatch reporting: More complete records and monitoring could clarify how many sharks are caught and where.
- Set bycatch-friendly gear rules: Equipment requirements could aim to reduce incidental capture or mortality, but would need to be evaluated for their effects on fishing operations.
What rules already apply to Greenland sharks?
NAFO’s 2022 measure addressed Greenland sharks in the NAFO Regulatory Area, where stock status was described as unknown. It cited the species’ long lifespan, delayed maturity and low fecundity as reasons for a precautionary approach. The measure recorded an existing ban on directed fishing and called for prohibiting retention, minimizing incidental capture and mortality, and releasing live sharks in the least harmful manner. COSEWIC says NAFO parties agreed in 2022 to prohibit retention in that area.
Those regional provisions are not a universal ban covering all Greenland waters, and they are not the legal basis or status of Avannaata’s proposed bounty. The adopted measure and its explanatory memorandum are published by NAFO.
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