9 Shark Attack Victims To Testify Before Congress

On Wednesday nine shark attack victims will go before congress to testify in an effort to strengthen the ban on shark finning-- slicing off a shark's fin for use in soup-- and to push for the Shark Conservation Act of 2009. "The media makes sharks out to be monsters, some people make them out to be huggable little creatures, but neither is completely true," said one shark attack victim in the press release put out today. "Sharks are wild animals that deserve our respect, not our retribution."

Read the full press release below.

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WASHINGTON-- Today, nine shark "attack" victims from around the nation joined advocates in pushing for the Shark Conservation Act of 2009 (S. 850/H.R. 81), which would strengthen the ban on shark finning in U.S. waters and encourage shark conservation programs around the world.

"Sharks have evolved over 400 million years to become an 'apex predator' in the marine ecosystem, yet our fears help paint a grave picture for their future. It's time to replace fear with understanding and action, just as we have for lions and other apex predators," said Debbie Salamone, an Orlando, Florida resident and communications manager at the Pew Environment Group who was bitten by a shark at the Cape Canaveral National Seashore in east Central Florida in 2004.

The market for shark fins, highly valued for use in the Asian delicacy shark fin soup, is a major driving force in the overfishing of sharks. Shark meat is usually much less valuable, leading too often to shark "finning": slicing off a shark's fin and dumping the rest of the body back into the ocean. This wasteful practice is banned in the U.S., but loopholes in the law hamper its effectiveness, and many other countries still allow finning.

"You are more likely to be killed by lightning than a shark," said George Burgess, whose work at the Florida Museum of Natural History has highlighted the paucity of shark attacks in the world. "If only the sharks were so lucky. Up to 73 million sharks are killed around the world annually. In contrast, only a handful of people die every year from the 50-70 shark attacks worldwide."

A recent report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified 35 out of 64 known pelagic (open ocean) shark and related ray species around the world as Threatened or Near Threatened with extinction. According to the report, overfishing is the primary reason for the threatened status of a number of shark species in U.S. waters, including great whites, three species of thresher sharks, makos, porbeagles, oceanic whitetips, and three species of hammerheads.

In advocating for the Shark Conservation Act, introduced by Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) in April and passed by the House of Representatives by unanimous consent in March, the survivors hope that their unique voices will make a difference.

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"The media makes sharks out to be monsters, some people make them out to be huggable little creatures, but neither is completely true," said Al Brenneka, of Raleigh, North Carolina, who lost his arm after being bitten while surfing in Del Ray Beach, Florida, in 1976. Brenneka now runs a shark attack survivors network and also tags and releases sharks for research. "Sharks are wild animals that deserve our respect, not our retribution."

"The repercussions from overfishing sharks are severe; it is critical to look at the big picture," said Robyne Knutson of Santa Cruz, California, an artist who was bitten in the leg off the Maui shore in 1999.

"They're at the top of the food chain and everything else depends on them," said Mike Coots, who lost a leg to a shark while surfing off the Hawaiian island of Kuai in 1997. Coots, who still lives in Kuai, now surfs with a prosthesis.

"I don't want to swim around and play with them, but just because you don't like them doesn't mean you want to see them exterminated," said Charles Anderson of Summerdale, Alabama, who was bitten in the arm at Gulf Shores, Alabama, in 2000 while training for a triathlon. After losing his arm, Anderson has gone on to finish 17 triathlons.

Other survivors came from New York, Rhode Island, Florida and California. All of them highlighted the need for Senator Kerry's legislation, which would prohibit the removal of shark fins at sea, eliminate loopholes, strengthen enforcement in the current U.S. shark finning ban and promote the conservation of sharks internationally.

"We need Congressional action to further shark conservation and strengthen the U.S. shark finning ban," said Matt Rand, director of the Pew Environment Group's Global Shark Conservation Campaign. "If we don't act now, too many shark species will face extinction."

The Pew Environment Group is the conservation arm of The Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-governmental organization that applies a rigorous, analytical approach to improving public policy, informing the public and stimulating civic life.

Comments

[DKLabRat]

Listen, it's time we humans stopped expecting to have dominion over the entire planet. The oceans belong to the sharks. You step into their territory, you take your chances. If you get bit - that's just a natural hazard. To expect them to keep out of your way is about as logical as expecting not to get hit by a car if you stand in the middle of the road.

[lungfish]

better off worrying about whether your insurance company will dump you when you need them than worrying about sharks... I swim around them all of the time and there is just nothing to be afraid of unless you are in seal waters acting like a seal (surfing)....
Learn to love the sea like I do ( www.everbluefreediving.com ) and get over this fearful nonsense.

[lungfish]

I teach freediving and have many shark encounters including one several days ago. They are misunderstood and quite sophisticated. Without the background music and the sounds of screaming teenagers they are awesome, beautiful and I am absolutely thrilled when they show up. In the last couple of years I have encountered black fins, white tip reef sharks, an oceanic white tip, local hammerheads and two tiger sharks (one of them close to 15ft long). We had five white tips in a local bay here and they were pretty and there was nothing threatening about them.
I have never been in the water on the Great Barrier Reef without sharks around.
I have all of my fingers and toes and was never in any danger...
People need to get over their fears, learn why these beings are so important and learn how to protect them even if they seem threatening.
I encounter so many people that are afraid of sharks and won't get into the sea - they won't educate themselves. Something needs to be done because of all things to fear in life, being eaten by a shark isn't worth the time. There are places and situations to avoid - like surfing in seal water.... but fears of attack, for the most part, are irrational and un-necessary.

[MiddleRoadLiberal]

If a shark attacked me I would be rallying for the end of all sharkdom.

[Paradym]

If you got hit by a car, would you be rallying for the end of cars, or drivers?

I might agree with you if you were barbecuing in your back yard and then attacked by a recently evolved Great White who walked out of the ocean and hunted you down. I could see a need to end that line of evolution.

But, if you're out in the ocean (or any wildlife area) you have to face the same rules as the rest of the animal kingdom. Welcome to the food chain.

[Jaywalkker]

I don't understand the connection between the victims and the activism. I've read numerous accounts of shark attacks, seen documentaries with examples, and even during shark week on Discovery, but I've *never* seen the act of finning related to shark attacks. Does this article imply that there's a movement to justify finning because otherwise they'll attack beach goers?

[derrickhoyle]

I think the victims are coming forward in support of shark conservation. I don't think the practice of shark finning has anything to do with shark attacks, only with the cravings for shark fin soup. The survivors are simply hoping they can help roust support for the legislation, given the negative view of sharks in popular culture.

[Jaywalkker]

That's the gist I was getting from the article too. I guess I don't understand why a shark attack victim has any more legitimacy or authority on denouncing the act of finning over, say, me who count the number of times he's been in the ocean on one hand. By saying they're shark attack victims who want to protect sharks is just superfluous information that seems to muddy the waters unnecessarily.

[Paradym]

It paints of picture of someone, although a victim of attack by an animal, still being educated enough and mature enough to know that the animal is not to blame and that it is important to biodiversity and the health of our planet.

[vie2012ne]

Are increased shark attacks a symptom of global warming?

[Paradym]

Shark attacks haven't increased much at all in the 20th & 21st centuries. It's media coverage that's increased. Consider the millions of people that enter the ocean daily around the world and it should be obvious that it's so rare to be attacked.

[jimrs6]

These nine "victims" should be charged with trespassing and hit with heavy environmental fines. Do you know what damage an ulna or femur could do to a shark's intestinal track?

[dlarocca]

don't we humans consume and destroy enough? let's let the sharks be... anyone who "fins" sharks should have to have one of their digits (or limbs) removed as well... what's fair is fair

[doodlebug2]

These people are doing a good thing. I commend them.

[freedom4]

The correct spelling of the Hawaiian Island name is KAUAI ... where Mr. Coots lost a leg in 1997. As for sharks, they are a necessary part of the ecosystem of the ocean and if they are over fished the vacuum will create havoc.