A Shark-less Ocean is a Lifeless Ocean
Sharks have been swimming in our oceans for more than 400 million years. They were here before the dinosaurs when sea levels were high and coral reefs were just beginning to form. Being the first vertebrate predators, they succeeded in refining their aptitude and power over millions of years of evolution, allowing them to hunt as top predators while keeping our marine ecosystems in balance. Today, their populations are declining and this poses a serious threat to the health of our ocean.
According to a report by Pew Charitable Trusts, a 70-80% decline in shark populations have been reported globally and some threatened shark populations have been reduced by over 90% due to overfishing and increasing shark catch levels around the world. One of the major contributors to this massive increase in shark catch is for the famous shark fin soup.
Over 100 million sharks are killed annually for this Asian delicacy, consumed mainly in China and Vietnam. To meet the rise in demand for this soup, many fishermen began hunting sharks. The sharks are first hooked and then their fins are violently removed before being tossed overboard to drown alive, a slow and painful death. Science estimates that global shark populations could become extinct by mid-century if the shark fin trade continues at this rate.
Shark fin trading in China. Image by: Naja Bertolt Jensen
You might be wondering, what would the ocean look like without this top predator? Removing sharks from the food web causes our whole marine structure to collapse. The sea would most likely turn into a murky underwater swamp overpopulated by algae and jellyfish. Basically, a population overload of other species that would thrive without their predators consuming them.
In healthy reef ecosystems, almost everything is efficiently consumed in the food web. When we begin to decimate a top predator, the food web completely changes in character and becomes uncontrolled. Sharks dine on smaller fish such as tuna, which in turn eat even smaller bottom-feeding species like scallops, and scallops survive mostly on algae.
Without the control and balance from the top, these algae eating scallops would most likely collapse giving algae free-range to grow wild and flourish producing toxins that contaminate seafood and in extreme cases, can even lead to death in humans.
Algae blooms can also clog fish gills, smother coral reefs, as well as suck up all the surrounding ocean oxygen when they begin to decay. Sounds pretty dark, right?
Red Tide along the Florida coast
We deserve a healthy ocean full of sharks hunting the waters, keeping all other marine species in balance, maintaining a healthy carbon cycle in motion, and driving local tourism economies. After all, killing sharks for their fins brings in a much lower one-time revenue, while the value of a live shark generates more money over its entire lifetime.
Here’s what you can do to help
Raise awareness about the importance of shark populations and shark conservation.
If you fish, release all sharks that are caught fishing.
Choose sustainable seafood, visit Seafoodwatch.org.
Support shark research conservation efforts such as Project Aware, Oceana, Shark Angels, and Waterlust.
Report any grocery stores or restaurant you think may be selling shark meat to Animal Welfare Institute.
Visit VisionDive to find out the many names shark meat can be disguised as.
Together we can make a difference for a healthy and abundant ocean full of healthy sharks, nature’s most fascinating top predator.
Image by: Francisco Jesús Navarro Hernández
