 The IUCN has assessed this species as Vulnerable; its low reproductive productivity and rate of movement limits the capacity of depleted stocks to recover.Off India and Southeast Asia, this species has been severely depleted or extirpated by unregulated exploitation for its meat, fins, and liver oil.The sicklefin lemon shark was first described as "Carcharias acutidens" by German naturalist Eduard Rüppell, in the 1837 "Fische des Rothen Meeres" ("Fishes of the Red Sea").