sharks are in troublegood news for sharks
Frequently Asked Questions
Why shouldn’t I eat shark?
• Sustainability – Due to decades of overfishing, several species of sharks, including threshers, have been been added to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as globally vulnerable to extinction. More… Sharks have a slow recovery rate because they take many years to become sexually mature and have relatively few offspring. In addition to sharks, many other fish populations have suffered from overfishing. Seafood Watch is a program of Monterey Bay Aquarium designed to raise consumer awareness about the importance of buying seafood from sustainable sources. Download one of its handy pocket guides here.
• Ecosystem – Sharks have been around for over 450 million years and were well established when dinosaurs were still the coming thing. As predators, sharks play a vital role in our ocean’s ecosystem by keeping other fish populations in check. Removing this control will have damaging, far-reaching and unpredictable effects to our oceans – the world’s largest and most important ecosystems. Yet in the last 80 years, an estimated 80% of the world’s sharks have been killed by the hands, nets and hooks of humans.
• Health – Shark meat contains unsafe levels of mercury according to the Food and Drug Administration, the American Heart Association and the Environmental Defense Fund. More information about the dangers of mercury can be found here.
Why are sharks killed?
Sharks are killed for many reasons such as food, sport, bycatch (Bycatch is a term used to refer to any species caught accidentally while fishing for another species), and sometimes fear. Consumer demand and greed are other big killers of sharks as many shark products have commercial value such as:
• Meat – Sold at restaurants, markets and grocery stores. Threshers, shortfin makos and Pacific angel sharks are some of the more common sharks sold at these businesses. All three species are on the IUCN Red List as globally vulnerable to extinction. More…
• Fins – The fins are most commonly used to make shark fin soup. A tasteless “delicacy” that can cost over $100 a bowl. • Liver Oil – Used in cosmetics and skin products.
• Cartilage – Marketed as a cancer cure under the premise that sharks don’t get cancer, which is not true according to a paper in the December 1st, 2004 issue of Cancer Research, in which Johns Hopkins University researchers highlight these falsehoods. “Since shark cartilage has been promoted as a cancer cure, not only has there been a measurable decline in shark populations, but cancer patients also have been diverted from proven, effective treatments,” said Gary K. Ostrander, a research professor in the departments of Biology and Comparative Medicine at The Johns Hopkins University. Shark cartilage is also used to make chondroitin, a joint supplement.
• Spine – Used to make bully sticks (dog chew sticks).
• Teeth & Jaws – Used to make souveniers, jewelery and ornaments.
• Skin – Used to make wallets and belts.
How many sharks are killed each year in Santa Barbara?
73,400 pounds of thresher shark were landed in the Santa Barbara area in 2008, more than any other area on the west coast of the United States. The total amount of threshers landed in the state of Oregon from 1998-2007 combined was 38,550 pounds (a little over half of what Santa Barbara takes in one year). To view data of commercial landing records for California, visit the California Department of Fish and Game. To view data of commercial landing records for Oregon, visit the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
What is shark finning?
Shark finning is the removal of the shark fins and the discarding at sea of the carcass. This is most often done while the shark is still alive. Unable to swim without its fins, the shark sinks to the bottom where it is eaten alive by other fish. This barbaric act sometimes is even committed in protected marine sanctuaries. The fins are most commonly used to make shark fin soup. More… Scientists estimated some 73 million sharks are illegally killed this way each year to meet the high demands for this soup, according to the October, 2006 issue of Ecology Letters.
Should I be afraid of sharks?
While many movies such as Jaws and TV shows such as Discovery Channel’s Shark Week portray sharks as ferocious predators aggressively devouring innocent swimmers, nothing could be further from the truth. You are far more likely to be killed by a bee sting, by falling in a sandpit or even by a vending machine. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission there were 37 known vending machine fatalities between 1978 and 1995, for an average of 2.18 deaths per year. From 1995 through 2005 there were a total of six recorded shark attack fatalities in the U.S., for an average of 0.6 deaths per year. Vending machines are almost four times more deadly than sharks and who worries about vending machines? Some vending machines will sometimes even steal your money (a shark would never do that).
What should I do if I witness poaching or polluting?
Call CalTIP at 1(888) 334-2258. CalTIP (Californians Turn In Poachers and Polluters) is a confidential secret witness program that encourages the public to provide Fish and Game with factual information leading to the arrest of poachers and polluters. If the information supplied by the caller results in an arrest, the caller becomes eligible for a reward. (Rewards up to $1,000 have been paid.)