Most of us can agree that sharks are not cute, cudduly creatures and it’s easy for us to look over the fact that, people hunt them because they have the mind concept of the only good shark being a dead one – and they are being hunted in tremendous numbers for their fins for your very delicate shark fin soup. Sharks are an endangered species and there are a lot of people that just don’t care.
Right now, sharks are being caught and killed faster than they can reproduce. Bite-Back (A shark and Marine Conservation) is committed to removing demand for shark products in restaurants, fishmongers and retailers, encouraging an end to the needless slaughter of sharks.
Sharks are facing extinction because like humans, sharks have evolved with very few predators. And, just like humans, most large sharks do not become sexually mature until late in life, have few offspring and live for tens of years. When you slaughter a species more quickly than it can reproduce then it will nose-dive towards extinction.
The major shark fishing nations of the world include Argentina, Brazil, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, New Zealand, Pakistan, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, the UK and the United States. (So perty much the whole world) These nations each reported nominal catches of 10,000 tons per annum, whereas the facts would indicate the figure is more likely in excess of 44,000 tons - this suggests that more than 26 million sharks are caught and go unrecorded every year.
Most if not all of these countries practice Finning which is in brutally simplistic terms, sharks are hauled out of the sea by fishermen who then systematically slice off the dorsal and pectoral fins from the living creature before removing the tail. Then the viscously and fatally wounded shark is thrown overboard to die. They don’t need the whole shark because the rest of the shark does not bring in any money in the meat market industry.
Currently there are 18 species of shark on the Endangered Red List. Last year there were 11 species. With fishing techniques becoming more sophisticated and the demand for fins and meat at unprecedented levels, some species are rapidly moving towards extinction. People just don’t eat fin~ God it’s so damn disgusting to know that we are so ******** spoiled and we must have the delicacy of a freaken Shark Fin!
What the ********! (Sorry, had to go off there) Humanity is so wasteful, I mean fine if you want to eat a shark, but make good use of the whole animal. Am I the only one disturbed by this?
Also just so you know, Only seven species of shark are known to have attacked humans. These are the Bull, Tiger, Oceanic White Tip, Great White, Blue, Galapagos and Mako.
Of all reported attacks only 1% are fatal. Usually, a shark attack is the result of mistaken identity - the shark believing a swimmer, diver or surfer is natural prey, such as a turtle or seal - and that's why, often after one bite, the victim is rejected by the shark. Remember, more people die every year from bee stings, dog bites, falling coconuts and lightening strikes.
So what if sharks go extinct? We are all connected on this planet through ecosystems and biomes. The depletion or removal of sharks from the ocean may lead to increases or declines in other species, with unpredictable consequences for ecosystems. Sharks maintain the 'genetic fitness' of their prey by removing the sick and the weak and help keep population sizes in check. When marine biologists used complex computer programmers to predict the consequences of the removal of the tiger shark from the Hawaiian Reefs they witnessed the increase in the number of reef sharks, turtles, bottom fish and seabirds. What they didn't expect to see was the 'total and rapid crash in the abundance of tuna and jacks'. This was explained by the proliferation of seabirds - prey to the tiger shark - but predator to the tuna and jacks. In other words the extinction of such a Key stone species like the shark will lead to the extinction of other animals as well.
On another note, if you’ve droped in and read the information on the Coral Reefs thread, evidence shows commercial fishermen have destroyed underwater habits the size of Europe with indiscriminate trawling methods, new research has conclusively linked industrial fishing for sharks to the demise of coral reef eco-systems. We are all linked on this planet, and people need to start to realize that. You destroy one thing, it will lead to the demise of something else. *cries* This is just soo sad. 11% of coral reefs have been destroyed due to commercial fishing.
So what can you do to help?
In the interest of self-preservation and the preservation of our species we should all make choices everyday based on their consequence on the environment. We must change the way we make daily decisions if there is to be any improvement of our current condition.
Keep things in perspective. Be mindful of the big problems, but focus on solving them through the little things you can do everyday to help reduce them.
Learn, learn learn all you can about the oceans and the dangers most of our marine animals face – unfortunately the shark isn’t the only one. Tuna is also in great danger, being slaughtered in outstanding numbers.
((TUNA))
((Overfishing))
Educating yourself and those around you about the troubles that face our planet is a small but none the less a way of heping.
So with all that information in mind, and I can keep going, but I figure most of you won’t read this anyways, What do you guys think about saving “heartless ferocious beasts” such as the sharks or Crocodiles - yep they are also in danger. It’s a wonder we even have any animals on this planet.
Hey if you made it all the way down here, thanks for reading.
-Catz
