According to a new report released this week by Oceana, less than 1% of the highly migratory sharks reported caught in the Atlantic Ocean are protected from overfishing by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the group that's charged with protecting them.
And what's more, the report indicates that three-quarters of the highly migratory shark species being caught in ICCAT fisheries are classified as threatened in parts of the Atlantic by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
That's a heck of a lot of neglected sharks.
Some sharks, like tunas, travel long distances across the oceans, so their populations can't be effectively managed by any one country. That's where ICCAT comes in. Although ICCAT is the appropriate body to manage sharks in the Atlantic, Oceana's new report shows that current efforts are grossly insufficient.
Most shark species in the Atlantic are vulnerable to overfishing because of their exceptionally low reproductive rates. Currently, ICCAT only has protections in place for a few species including hammerhead and oceanic whitetip sharks, although many other sharks are threatened, including porbeagle, silky, and shortfin mako sharks.
And these sharks are far from man-eating monsters, mind you -- they are top predators that keep the ecosystem in balance. When these sharks are overfished, it affects the entire the ocean food chain -- and most likely not in a good way.
A shocking 50% of ICCAT fishing countries did not report any shark catches at all in 2009. Such massive underreporting of shark fishing makes it extraordinarily difficult to know what impact fisheries are having on sharks.
Oceana scientists are present at the ICCAT meeting this week, and they are calling on the 48 countries that fish in the Atlantic to adopt greater measures to protect these vulnerable sharks.
The fishing countries of the Atlantic can no longer ignore the shark populations they are responsible for protecting. We should be scared for sharks - not of them - and ICCAT must do more to protect our oceans' top predators.
You can help by joining Oceana's campaign to protect sharks.
Dom Joly: The Trials and Tribulations of Being a Monster Hunter
Chris Genovali: Seeing Red Over British Columbia's Herring Fishery
http://www.treehugger.com/ocean-conservation/taiwan-shark-finning-ban-set-go-effect-next-year.html
"A World Without Sharks"
http://sandinlab.ucsd.edu/2010/09/07/a-world-without-sharks/
A healthier shark population equates to fewer Lionfish, and less disruption of the Atlantic Ocean ecosystem.
Sharks are not prolific breeders and cannot reproduce as much as humans demand. They are often killed and tossed back for other bottom dwellers to eat as superstitious lore deems them more dangerous than they realistically are. The only reason they see humans as food is because humans have compromised their natural food sources and splash willingly in the ocean as if they were fish food.
Sharks are harvested for food, as they are tuna, apparently an unknown fact, as well as for their skin, teeth, etc. Whatever side of the coin appeases the conscience, there is no logic whatsoever in their being hunted to extinction. They contribute to the oceans' health and need to continue to do so, otherwise the other all-so appealing food sources will be expeditiously depleted as well.
Think about that the next time you consume what you percieve to be "tuna" and contribute to the "ever growing" human population.
It is time to launch an international "Hug a Shark" campaign
We can start with the Wall Street sharks...move on to the Congressional sharks that are infesting Washington DC...then finally work ourselves into the Atlantic.
Thank you, Oceana, and January, for helping make people aware of these troubling findings.
Another fav: "It's not the men in your life, but the life in your men."
But you're going to toss out 'facts' and numbers and acronyms like they're pocket candy and then come with a weak line like, "...and most likely not in a good way."???
What kind of weak, punk line is that???
If that's what you think and you feel that your data supports it, then go ahead and say it.
God, that was absolutely uncomfortable to read.
www.planetcommonsense.wordpress.com