The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, for the first time in history, gave a shark species federal protections under the Endangered Species Act. ...

Is it illegal to catch hammerhead shark?

Shooting a Hammerhead

So fishing for hammerheads in federal waters on the Atlantic coast is perfectly legal, so long as anglers have the proper permit.

How are hammerheads protected?

For the first time ever, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has conferred ESA protection on a shark species by adding four “distinct population segments” of scalloped hammerhead sharks to the list of species protected under the ESA.