Hammerhead sharks

Shark alert: Global study documents increasing trend in shark mortality, identifies pathways to save threatened species

Hammerhead sharks

Hammerhead sharks. Photo by Masayuki Agawa, Ocean Image Bank.

Sharks have persisted as powerful ocean predators for more than 400 million years. They survived five mass extinctions, diversifying into an amazing variety of forms and lifestyles. But this ancient lineage is now among the world’s most threatened species groups due to overexploitation in poorly regulated fisheries and the proliferation of wasteful finning practices.

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Tiger shark. Photo by Albert kok, Wikimedia Commons.

Sea Around Us’ collaborator says shark fishing should be considered ocean vandalism

Sea Around Us collaborator says shark fishing should be considered ocean vandalism

Tiger shark. Photo by Albert kok, Wikimedia Commons.

Killing sharks is ocean vandalism,” Jessica Meeuwig, head of the Marine Futures Lab at the University of Western Australia and a close collaborator of the Sea Around Us and the Sea Around Us – Indian Ocean, told journalists following reports of a 395-kilogram tiger shark having been caught by a recreational fishing crew during a competition off the coast of Sydney.

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Blue shark (Prionace glauca). Photo by Mark Conlin-NMFS, Wikimedia Commons.

Hidden behind bad numbers: Official stats mask almost all shark and ray species caught in the Mediterranean and Black seas

Blue shark (Prionace glauca). Photo by Mark Conlin-NMFS, Wikimedia Commons.

Blue shark (Prionace glauca). Photo by Mark Conlin-NMFS, Wikimedia Commons.

Shark and ray species commonly caught in the Mediterranean and Black seas are not being reported in official statistics, new research from the Sea Around Us initiative at the University of British Columbia shows.

A new study published in Marine Policy reveals that 97 per cent of the sharks and rays caught and brought to market domestically by fleets from the European, North African and Middle Eastern countries that surround these seas are not reported by species.

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