"These numbers may even be on the low side, since the estimate is based only on the reported catch numbers. It's likely that many sharks are caught without being reported.Commercial fishing accounts for a large part of the overall number of sharks caught. Sometimes the shark is the target, but many times it's just a victim of something called bycatch."
source:http://animals.howstuffworks.com/fish/shark-fishing.htm
My dear visitor did you know these truths about the shark population in our World? Surely common sense tells you that this level of killing of sharks cannot continue if sharks are to survive as as species on our planet. Already in some countries, such as Canada, sharks have been put on a list of species which the Government does not want its population to eat or catch because of the fact that the population of these species is threatened with extinction. I urge you on behalf of sharks, if you eat shark, then please stop doing so, and if you are fishing for sharks recreationally,then please stop doing so also.
Did you know that "sharks typically reproduce only once a year, and they carry just 10 to 40 pups per pregnancy? This sets them apart from many other fish that deposit thousands of eggs at a time. The overfishing combined with the long gestation period and limited amount of young they produce has placed several species of shark on the protected list"
source:http://animals.howstuffworks.com/fish/shark-fishing.htm
Sharks need our help if they are to survive as a species on our planet!! Do you know how crucial sharks are in the marine ecoystem they occupy as apex predators? This critical:
Sharks eat animals called "consumers " as part of their daily lives. These consumers eat plants. Scientists are now warning us that because of overfishing of apex predators such as sharks, that too many consumers live in our Oceans on the planet. As a result they say, too many plants are being eaten in our oceans. Why should this matter to you? Because, if overconsumption of these plants continues by these consumers in the ocean food chain, there will not be enough oxygen for Humans and other life forms on the planet being made by the plant life in the ocean. Did you know that most of the oxygen you breathe is created in the oceans and waterways of our planet? Well that is a fact! Only if the predators at the top of the food chain are allowed to live and prosper in our oceans will Humans continue to have a chance to live on this planet,that is another fact which scientists who study the oceans have told us!! This is why predators such as sharks and whales are crucial! All animals and all life on our planet are dependent upon the existence of these food chains in order to survive. Humans have over-fished the waters of our planet, into a very terrible state.We need to stop fishing certain species of life in our oceans to allow them to repopulate their niches so that the food chains on this planet are restored to what they once were before Humans began over-exploiting the life on this planet!
If you do not believe me that plants are being over-consumed, then please believe the scientists! You can read what they say, for example by clicking on the following link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/plankton-the-base-of-the-oceans-food-web-steadily-declining/article1654702/
which will take you to an article entitled:
"Plants at base of ocean food chain in decline, study finds"
As stated by Chris Law,
"The loss of sharks will have profound consequences on the marine ecosystems, food webs, and even human fisheries." "The eradication of sharks in our oceans will result in devastating consequences to the marine ecosystems. According to shark biologist, Dr. Erich Ritter, the killing of sharks is the “biggest ecological time bomb that we are facing” as sharks are the most abundant top predator on the planet, and thus have a strong influence in food web structures. Furthermore, Dr. Ritter believes that if we were to exterminate the world’s shark populations, we would destroy all food chains of the entire marine ecosystem (Stewart 2007)."
I appeal to all of you who fish for sharks recreationally to stop doing so.I also appeal that you stop buying products made from sharks, and that you stop buying from countries who do not want to change their behavior regarding the overfishing of sharks in their waters,especially countries in East Asia!
"The increasing demand for wildlife as a source of traditional food in East Asia is decimating populations of sharks, primates, pangolins and other animals, which they believe have aphrodisiac properties." source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife
Since Asians and people in other countries who kill sharks indiscriminately will not change their behavior regarding the overfishing of sharks, it seems the only way to deal with them is to show them using economic practices that we will not allow them to continue to kill sharks in this manner and in these numbers!
Please read the information at the following websites concerning Human behavior and sharks:
http://www.sharks.org.za/killing-of-sharks.html
A 4th Grader’s Plea to Stop Killing Sharks
Defending Sharks
Thank you for taking the time to read this important message. Please tell your friends and family about the situation sharks are in so that they too can pass the message on that we have to stop overfishing and overkilling sharks on on Planet! In closing here is video evidence concerning what is happening to our sharks: this first video is only 6 minutes long, please watch it with your children and talk to them about this problem we humans have created for sharks!
This second video is only two minutes long please watch it.
