A、Hunting industry. B、Water pollution. C、Fishing for other fish. D、The shark fin industry. C

Sharks have been at the top of the ocean food chain for millions of years. At the beginning of the twentyffirst century, the sharks!, survival is jeopardized by a relatively new predator: humans. Recent developments threaten the survival of the ftigers of the sea. Modern fishing fleets are brutally effective in sweeping up every swimming creature from vast expanses of ocean waters. Sharks have become the new target, as other species have been depleted as well as being caught by tuna fisheries. The sharks are often sought for their fins, an expensive delicacy in Asian cuisine. The cruel and wasteful practice of finning whereby only the fin is cut from a live shark, which is then thrown back into the ocean is putting unprecedented pressure on shark populations around the world. It was estimated in 1996 that commercial fishing was landing around 760,000 tons of sharks annually, representing approximately 70 million sharks and shark like fish. However, the actual catch is far greater than this. Most sharks are caught indirectly in other fisheries and are poorly recorded. In addition, increasingly on the high seas, sharks are finned and the rest of their bodies, often still alive, are dumped at sea, wasting 9599% of the shark. This considerable mortality goes unrecorded. Experts agree that an estimated of 100 million sharks and shark like fish caught around the world annually is not unreasonable.
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.
23. How does the speaker describe the sharks?
24. According to the speaker, what is an indirect cause of shark deaths?
25. Why does the speaker say it’s difficult to accurately record shark deaths?