Reflection on shark conservation again again
Humans have hunted sharks for sport, food, medicine, and leather for centuries, with little regard for the health of shark populations. Sports fishers around the world regard sharks as some of the most challenging fish to catch in the sea. Shark flesh is highly prized in many regions of the world. One particularly popular food made from shark meat, shark fin soup, is in such demand that some fishers hunt sharks just for their fins, throwing the rest of the fish back to the sea to die. Shark liver oil is a popular source of vitamin A, and some people believe that shark liver and cartilage are beneficial to human health. Shark skin, with its microscopic teethlike scales, was once used as a fine grade of sandpaper, and when the scales are removed from the skin to make shark leather, it brings high prices for use in shoes, belts, and handbags. Many sharks are killed unintentionally. Each year, thousands of sharks die in nets set out to catch other types of fish. Sometimes, humans kill sharks just because they fear them.Such activities have placed many shark populations in danger of extinction. For example, between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s, populations of dusky sharks and sandbar sharks off the eastern coast of the United States declined by more than 80 percent. Internationally, the sand tiger shark and the great white shark are also in danger of extinction. Sharks grow slowly, reproduce late in their lives, and produce few offspring when they mate, making the natural rate of population replenishment very slow. If too many sharks in a particular area are killed, that population may never recover. For example, numbers of porbeagle sharks, swift, ocean-going sharks once commercially valuable, declined dramatically until, by 1960, commercial fishers could no longer catch enough of them to cover their expenses. Thirty years later, porbeagle populations still have not recovered.Sharks caught in high-seas fisheries are among the ocean’s most vulnerable animals. Their low reproductive rates make them particularly susceptible to overfishing in the face of increased demand for shark products. More than half of the shark species taken in high-seas fisheries are classified as Endangered, Vulnerable or Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Three hammerhead sharks, oceanic whitetips, spiny dogfish, porbeagles, sandbar and dusky sharks have been proposed for a CITES Appendix II listing, which would closely monitor and control international trade. In addition to seeking protections for sharks, Pew Environment Group will also advocate for the protection of Atlantic bluefin tuna. A proposed Appendix I listing would prohibit international trade in the species.
Link as they help with the reflection= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_Conservation_Act

Reflection on shark conservation again
Tens of millions of sharks and closely related rays are killed each year in fisheries, either intentionally or as by catch. Too often their populations are being fished faster than they can reproduce. Despite the mounting evidence of shark overfishing and depletion, few countries restrict shark fishing. Even fewer have managed shark fisheries successfully. Most sharks do not stay within the waters of any one country, migrating across national and international boundaries. Some species, such as makos and blue sharks, travel across entire ocean basins. Yet, there are virtually no international limits on the catch of sharks. By catch is the unintentional or incidental capture of non-target species during fishing operations. By catch is a significant global issue. The by catch of sharks can be particularly problematic as sharks usually have slower growth rates than the target species. Shark populations may be seriously depleted through by catch from a targeted fishery that may be sustainable because shark by catch is often thrown back into the sea dead, or landed but not reported, the depletion of shark populations may go unnoticed for long periods of time – as is the case with several species of large-bodied North Atlantic skates. So even during fishing, fishermen should also look out what they will catch.
Link(shark at risk)=http://www.sharkalliance.org/v.asp?level2id=14&rootid=14&depth=1

Shark

Research on sharks-As a result of Bite-Back’s campaign it is now impossible to buy shark meat in a British supermarket (ASDA previously sold 100,000 portions of shark meat every year) and now only one supermarket (Tesco) is selling swordfish. And when the country’s largest health food retailer, Holland & Barratt, honoured Bite-Back’s request for the removal of shark cartilage capsules across 500 stores it became clear that its campaigns are having a genuine and measurable impact on the way Britain goes shopping.Campaign director for Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “It’s our prediction that 2010 will be a landmark year for Bite-Back breakthroughs and that soon the country will look back in shame that these fish ever appeared on supermarket shelves and restaurant menus.”In the coming weeks, this site will become even more campaign-focussed and deliberate in its mission to halt the trade and consumption of vulnerable fish species, promote sustainable fishing, protect ocean habitats and inspire worldwide respect for the marine environment.
Throughout the world sharks are under such intense attack by Man that their numbers have declined to the point where certain species are now threatened with extinction. The situation in the Red Sea is critical and some areas that were until recently renowned for their richly productive reefs, replete with fish of all sizes, including sharks, have been transformed into desolate habitats where both the coral-reef fish and their primitive predators have been wiped out. Meanwhile the general public is still being fed the misleading old line that the seas are full of man-eating sharks and we must protect ourselves at all costs from them.
The fact is that the demise of the sharks will affect the whole eco-system and sea creatures such as oysters, clams and scallops will disappear
Reflection on articles -
The shark conversation campaign was quite successful hosted by the ‘Bite Back’ company. They had gathered many supporters of saving shark from extinction. A large amount of shark meat has been removed from the sales of the fishmonger restaurants and retailers had take out shark from their menu. I only thought that sharks are being killed for their fins till they are endangered animals but besides being hunt for their fins there are other reasons for sharks to be endangered. For example oceanic pollution could also cause shark to die. Perversely, against this backdrop, shark meat is being popularised by celebrity chefs, trendy restaurants and even supermarkets and, as such, Britain is compounding the worldwide problem of over-fishing, the single biggest threat to the marine environment. Over-fishing is decimating shark populations Over-fishing is decimating shark populations. Actually the fishing industry does not want to catch sharks but most of them being forced to catch sharks faster than they can reproduce, purely because more people want to eat it. When sharks are killed this could affect the food chain, as sharks eat on coral-reef fish that feeds on coral they would have less predator to hunt them and they could reproduce more freely. Hence not just sharks coral would be endangered too.


Shark Conversation Campaign-Fins are Changing
URL Link:http://www.bite-back.com/finsarechanging.htm
Shark and Coral Conservation
URL Link:http://www.sharkandcoralconservation.com/