Shark Overfishing

Most have heard that Earth may be going through a sixth mass extinction event due to a widespread and rapid loss of biodiversity worldwide. The Class Chondrichthyes (the class that includes sharks and rays) has survived at least five major extinction events, but this sixth event has seen at least one third of all species theatened with extinction.

Many governmental agencies have attempted to claim that nothing can be done about shark over fishing because most of it occurs in international waters, but recent studies have shown that the majority actually occurs quite close to the coastline.

The major causes of shark fishing include; fishing for shark meat, fishing for shark parts used in cosmetics, fishing for recreation and leisure, and accidental bycatch.

Though nearly all areas of the world participate in the use of shark meat and shark body parts, it is most culturally significant in China and Southeastern Asia. Historically the eating of shark meat was meant to express great wealth, and traditional Chinese medicine involves many parts of the sharks cartilige as well as other body parts.

One proposed solution is sustainable shark fishing. Since outright bans on shark fishing would economically hurt so many people as well as some national economies, sustainable fishing would be a more feasible solution.

Nations, such as the United States and Australia, have had an easier time implementing sustainable fishing laws because they have the infrastructure and the funds to enforce such laws. While it may be some time until other nations can implement the same laws, it is important for those nations that can to set a good example in how those laws are enforced.

One major way to influence shark protection legislature getting passed is to highlight the economic boon that is shark eco-tourism. Many nations have begun to profit off of charging adventurous divers to swim in populated shark waters.

The idea is that one shark's meat can only be sold one time, but that same shark can be seen by many divers, all paying a hefty price tag. In some of the nations that have protected shark tourism sites it has actually been proven to be more profitable than any shark fishing industries that already existed there.

One such shark eco-tourism group is the Irish Basking Shark Group. They have sucessfully created a drive for shark viewing in Ireland that has a focus on conservation of the Basking Shark, which is classified as Endangered in the area. They rely on tourists reporting their sightings of the sharks in order to gain population and spread data.

A major issue with shark eco-tourism as a solution is that it is very difficult to convert areas that already have booming and sucessful shark fishing sites into tourism sites. People have been fishing for sharks for centuries, and it is obviously going to be difficult to change that overnight.

Sharks in today's world remain at the top of the food chain, but human action such as fishing, habitat destruction, and water pollution has put them in a precarious position. It is up to us then to prevent any further harm or potential extinctions of these great creatueres from occuring. The main barrier to this is that there is not enough attention or public outcry about the extinction that many species of shark do face.

Sources

Brendl, S. (2020, April 09). Cultural Significance of Sharks in the Pacific: Shark Allies. Retrieved from https://sharkallies.org/oceans-knowledge-base/cultural-significance-of-sharks-in-the-pacific

Chow, D. (2013, May 31). Why Sharks Generate More Money Alive Than Dead. Retrieved from  https://www.livescience.com/37048-shark-economic-value.html 

Dulvy, N. K., Pacoureau, N., Rigby, C. L., Pollom, R. A., Jabado, R. W., Ebert, D. A., . . . Simpfendorfer, C. A. (2021). Overfishing drives over one-third of all sharks and rays toward a global extinction crisis. Current Biology, 31(21). doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.08.06

Jones, C. (2021, April 24). How to watch Basking Sharks. Retrieved from https://irelandswildlife.com/how-to-watch-basking-sharks-in-ireland/

Simpfendorfer, C. A., & Dulvy, N. K. (2017). Bright spots of sustainable shark fishing. Current Biology, 27(3). doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.12.017