Tag: shark fishing

  • Progress on shark conservation

    There has been some good news (and a little bad news) in the shark fishing regulation world recently.  I am especially happy about the announcement by NOAA that it will greatly limit shark fishing in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Atlantic ocean, primarily to reduce catch of ducky dusky and black tip sharks (more…

  • Sharks mean business!

    Sharks mean business!

    Every day that a shark stays alive and available for divers to catch a glimpse of, it raises an average $73 in tourism revenue.  That ads up to ~ $25,000 a year and well over a million greenbacks over a life time (Gallagher and Hammerschlag 2011). [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdFe3vs5FN4&[/youtube]   [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/27134578[/vimeo]

  • Shark killing contests alive and well in the US

    Star Island shark tournament by the numbers: Two days of fishing 156 boats ~ 1000 hunters $540,000 in prize money 94 dead sharks biggest dead shark: 422 lb thresher   Meanwhile, down in Alabama at the “Outcast Mega Shark Tournament” the catch of the day was a 949 lb, 14 ft tiger shark:    …

  • Kristen Bell talking about shark tagging with the Hammerschlagies on Leno

    [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/22565878[/vimeo] Go here for more info about shark expert Dr. Neil Hammerschlag’s shark tagging program. 

  • New evidence for catastrophic loss of coral reef sharks

    “[The] density of reef sharks has declined to 3–10% of baseline levels” This is the take-home finding from one of two new papers that help clarify just how much reef shark populations have declined. Nadon et al. 2012, Re-creating missing population baselines for Pacific reef sharks, just came out in the journal Conservation Biology. The team used a new database…

  • A judge for the ocean

    The article below from  Sea Shepherd describes the slowly developing recognition that the current judiciary in Ecuador and elsewhere cannot deal with various environmental laws. Just like the recent case in Indonesia, when a boat was caught illegally harvesting sharks in the Galapagos, all the fisherman were sent home with minimal fines. But on the other…

  • Alex Hofford on silky sharks

    I chat with photojournalist Alex Hofford about his recent trip to the Pacific Ocean with Greenpeace, where he encountered some beautiful sharks.                     HS – What was it like meeting silky sharks compared to other sharks you’ve encountered AH – These sharks seemed almost canine in…

  • State shark finning bans gaining traction

    Bans against shark finning and export have been passed by several states and seem to be slowly gaining traction. Since most shark fishing and export of shark fins happens outside of US waters, this type of legislation is relatively ineffective in reducing a global problem. But it is a start and I think may be…

  • Thousands of shark fins laid out to dry on a Hong Kong sidewalk

    This is where these sharks would have ended up had the GNP not apprehended the boat. [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/37750108[/vimeo] HT to Abel

  • Shark finning infographic