Global threats to sharks
In the last fifty years humanity has proven beyond a doubt that the oceans are not infinite. What seemed to be an inexhaustible supply as recently as twenty years ago has, in many areas, been taken to its limits and beyond.
Leading marine biologists recently warned that we had been wrong to suppose that
we could not cause the extinction of a marine fish species.
We are already doing this, sharks are being overfished in many parts of the globe,
and many populations have declined by as much as 90%. As other fish stocks have dwindled due to overfishing, and demand for fins has expanded, sharks are increasingly targeted.
Of the 546 shark species assessed by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), 110 (20%) are classified as endangered, threatened or vulnerable.
Save Our Seas have published a document which aims to provide the reader with an informative overview of the plight of sharks in our world’s Oceans. It outlines recommendations to curtail shark exploitation, identifying the desperate need to change people’s perceptions of sharks in the hope that they will reduce or stop the consumption of shark products.
This report is not a scientific study or a systematic global trade review. Rather it is an attempt to assemble a broad overview in lay terms of the factors likely to affect the survival of sharks. And it is a call to action.
Download a copy here.
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