Sharks are critical to marine health, yet their numbers are in decline. Their predatory ferocity has proved no match to the enormous fishing pressure they are subjected to from the global shark fin trade. But this year, leaders from around the globe worked together to protect sharks like never before.

Sharks have roamed the seas for more than 400 million years, but today many species are being hunted to extinction. Now, some unlikely allies have emerged for the ocean's top predators -- several of the world's smallest countries have generated a wave of conservation measures. In 2008, there...

In 2010, President Porfirio Lobo Sosa of Honduras and President Johnson Toribiong of Palau issued a global challenge to protect sharks from intense fishing pressure. Now, many countries are answering that call.

On September 22, I moderated a high-level event in New York City at which Honduras and Palau hosted...

It may have begun as summer filler programming, but the Discovery Channel's "Shark Week" has endured the test of time as it enters its 24th year. In fact, the event has become such a phenomenon that it has drawn more than 20 million viewers each year since 1995. Unfortunately, these...

Sharks are in trouble globally, and there are few locations where healthy shark populations still exist. In The Bahamas, a 20-year-old ban on longline fishing gear has left its waters as one of the few places in the world with relatively healthy shark populations.

This has paid off...

After a long battle, early this year President Obama signed the Shark Conservation Act into law. This legislation closes loopholes in existing shark conservation law, and directs the U.S. to lead shark conservation efforts internationally.

In one example of loophole exploitation under previous shark finning policy, a transport...

Shark finning is legal in Chile, and a serious threat to the estimated 53 species of sharks found in the country's waters. As recently as 2008, Chile exported 36 tons of shark fins to Hong Kong. Lawmakers have realized the need to stop shark finning there, and legislation...

On March 8 Governor Eddie Baza Calvo (R-Guam), signed into law a bill banning the sale, possession and distribution of shark fins. A major fishing hub, this U.S. territory now joins a growing chorus of Pacific Ocean voices in support of shark conservation.

The need for these voices...

Last year might have marked more than a turnaround for the global economy. It also may prove to have been a watershed for protecting some of the oldest species of fish in our oceans.

Slowly, we're beginning to realize that some shark species could be facing commercial extinction...