Conservation measures must be taken into effect in order to prevent sharks from becoming extinct. Several nations have attempted to ban shark finning, and as of 2007, 19 nations along with the European Union implemented bans on shark finning in their waters (Camhi et al. 2008). In addition, several marine reserves-such as the Galapagos Islands, Cocos, Costa Rica, and the Great Barrier Reef-have been established to protect sharks and other species of animals (Stewart 2007). Additional conservation efforts include the establishment of conservation categories in order to know the hazards that species and ecosystems might face.
Sharks on the IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) created these categories to rate the status of rare and endangered species known as the IUCN Red List (Primack 2008). The Red List is based on five quantitative measures of threats that may lead to extinction:
observable reduction in number of individuals the geographical range that the specie occupies the predicted decline in the specie’s population the number of live mature individuals the extinction probability in a certain time period.
According to this list, great whites, both species of mako, all three species of threshers, porbeagle, and oceanic whitetip sharks are listed as vulnerable (Camhi et al. 2008). Based on the five criteria, vulnerable species have a very high risk of extinction (Primack 2008). However, several species of sharks are rapidly reaching levels in which they would be labeled as endangered and even critically endangered, meaning that these species will have an extremely high risk of extinction. Consequently, additional conservative measure must be forced upon fisheries.
No sympathy for man-eaters
Unfortunately, the depiction of sharks as man-eaters is making conservation efforts difficult to pass. Sharks are very unpopular animals with a reputation that includes a nasty temperament, a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth, and a tendency to use them on people (Ellis 2003). This depiction results in impeded conservation efforts due to the lack of knowledge of shark biology and inadequate shark fishery data (Camhi et al. 2008); it is almost impossible to establish shark conservation methods with the current depiction of sharks.
Changing the perception would be a step towards the goal of ending the overexploitation of sharks, as society’s lack of sympathy towards sharks has led to their overexploitation through commercial fishing and particularly shark finning.
Importance of shark conservation
Estimates suggest that sharks will not be able to sustain the current fishing levels and thus will lead to the extinction of several species of sharks . Without the presence of sharks-an apex predator-complex food webs are destroyed, affecting not only marine ecosystems, but humans as well. With the ocean no longer stable and species populations no longer in balance, fisheries will no longer be sustainable, leading to the collapse of one of the most important industries in human society.
Shark conservation is important in not only maintaining marine ecosystem stability, but is important in preserving the overall biodiversity of the oceans. Furthermore, the loss of the shark will have tremendous effect on the marine environment, and the removal of these animals will result in great loss in biodiversity.
Conserving biodiversity is essential to human existence. Not only is biodiversity economically valuable, it also provides an existence/bequest value. It provides humans with something intangible, something that could never be attained elsewhere but in nature. It is time that human society moves from its current anthropocentric mindset to one of eco-centric.
References
Camhi, M. D., Pikitch, E. K., and Babcock, E. A. (2008). Sharks of the Open Ocean: Biology, Fisheries, and Conservation . (Blackwell Publishing Ltd: Oxford, UK).
Ellis, R. 2003. The Empty Ocean . (Shearwater Book: Washington D.C.).
Primack, R. (2008). A Primer of Conservation Biology . (Sinauer Associates, Inc.: Sunderland, MA).
Stewart, R. (2007) Sharkwater . (Key Porter Books Limited: Toronto, Ontario).