ON THE OCEANS - The State of the Worlds Sharks

So the oceans. A rather striking element of planet earth which according to NOAA, covers approximately 71% of the earths surface, is home to an estimated 50% of all species on earth, holds 97% of the water on the planet yet is estimated to be 95% unexplored. These water bodies the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Arctic Ocean, and the Indian Ocean are home to a plethora of creatures that have been around for millions of years, are the site for the origins of life, and play many other key roles which in turn affect the entire planet, its species, climate, and on and on. However much we as humans utilize the resources they provide very little can actually be concluded about these vast expanses and as a result there is an abundance of research currently being conducted to help us, land dwelling human, understand this underwater world. One thing that we have figured out is that our current rates of fishing and consumption of the animals namely fish, sharks, whales, cephalopods or octopus, squid, etc and crustaceans which are the shrimp, crab, lobsters, shell fish, etc, are having a profound effect on the population dynamics of these species and in turn can have larger effects on down their food chains.

One such species, which I will admit is the focus of this blog, the shark is a very fascinating animal, largely feared by man due to its predatory lifestyle and its ability to master a planetary domain in ways that man can only dream of. The shark is a vestige of prehistoric times who's evolutionary origins date back over 400 million years, and is coming under extreme pressure from human consumption, more so than ever before in history.

So the shark. Sharks are pretty fascinating creatures and in fact the amount of information regarding these animals is fairly limited and again much research is currently being conducted to determine such things as the relative abundance of these animals, the number of different species in existence, there lifespan, the effects of fishing, the territory these animals cover, what they eat and so forth. What I can gather, thanks to a fantastic environmental group know as Oceana, and NOAA is that these animals are fairly long lived, with a relatively low reproductive potential, they have survived every mass extinction event in earths history, they are social, there are at least 350 different species and they are not as great a threat to human life as is commonly thought. For shark attack statistics visit: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/attacks/relarisk.htm.

So what is happening to these animals, you ask? The long and the short is that they are being harvested for human consumption. Now, we all know about fishing and the fact that overfishing can cause the depletion of a certain target species, and yes sharks are not being managed as far as sustainable fishing yields go. But beyond that, the dark side of shark fishing is that most of the the time its not the meat that sharks bodies produce that's being targeted by fishermen, its mainly just there fins, and tail fins and livers and the rest of the animal is largely considered waste. Ironically the fins are used to make a soup, shark fin soup, considered quite a delicacy by many in east Asia. The other major industry for sharks fishing is simply that for sport, which is even more sad, because often times no part of the animal is utilized and its simply for the thrill of the catch.

However, there is progress being made with regards to shark conservation. For instance , the worlds largest marine sanctuary was created of the coast of the Hawaiian Islands by former president George W. Bush and more recently shark protection legislation is being passed by the US government as we speak. For information on this bill visit: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-81 The EU is also passing legislation based on this issue. Information on this can be found in the Oceana link previously made in this blog. Otherwise a number of non-profits are taking up the cause to try and promote a change in the mindset of would be shark product consumers. There was even a movie made on subject of sharks, debunking popular myths, showing how sharks are being exploited, etc called Sharkwater.

I just hope that man and his consumptive ways will change before irreparable damage is caused to these magnificent creatures of the deep blue.