The Death of Sharks

by Larry O'Hanlon | July 29, 2009

Submitted today by our special guest blogger Debbie Salamone:

The New York Times editorial headline today reads “The Death of Sharks.” It’s a grim reality. People around the globe are wiping out more than a million sharks each week and pushing about a third of shark species to the brink of extinction. Some populations of shark species in U.S. waters have plummeted by as much as 80 percent since the 1970s.

 The newspaper called for a global agreement to establish serious catch limits on sharks and an end to finning, the brutal practice of slicing off a shark’s fins for a lucrative trade primarily with Asian countries. The fins are used in soup. You can read the editorial here.

In my work with the Pew Environment Group’s global shark conservation campaign (please visit www.pewsharks.org) we face enormous challenges in saving sharks – partly because sharks are one of the ocean’s least sympathetic creatures. They look a lot tougher than they really are...

Sharks are slow-growing, late to mature and have few offspring. That means sharks cannot replenish their populations anywhere near as fast as humans are decimating them.

This has profound consequences. Sharks are a top predator like lions, tigers and wolves. They keep the ocean healthy by balancing the food web. Without sharks, populations of other species may explode. Then those species may eat more of their prey, wiping out those animals. And so on down the line. It’s a cascading effect with consequences no one can predict.

Already, scientists believe that in some areas, sharks populations may be so low that they are functionally extinct, meaning they can’t perform their role in the ecosystem and food web.

We can compare this situation to what happened with Yellowstone National Park wolves.

When wolves were eradicated from the park in the early 1900s, elk populations rapidly increased. Unchecked numbers of elk grazed on aspen trees, decimating an important species that provided habitat for songbirds and beaver. The aspen also prevented erosion along streams and river banks. As aspens disappeared, the park’s ecosystem deteriorated until wolves were reintroduced in the mid-1990s. That move helped Aspen stands recover, along with the species those trees supported.

Sharks have been around for roughly 400 million years; that’s 200 million years before the dinosaurs. We cannot – and should not – destroy this incredible legacy.

(Image credit:: Getty Images)

Comments

[ggreenwood4]

ALL fishing vessels found "FINNING" should be sunk with all hands onboard!