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What Every Good “Shark Week” Fan Should Read While They Watch

Bluntnose Sixgill Shark Hexanchus griseus ? R. Dean Grubbs

Bluntnose Sixgill Shark Hexanchus griseus ? R. Dean Grubbs

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA. August 13, 2012 – At the close of the annual meeting of leading American shark and ray scientists, the IUCN Shark Specialist Group (SSG) is releasing the first compilation of conservation status assessments for nearly 300 sharks, rays, and chimaeras (collectively known as chondrichthyan fishes) found in North American, Central American, and Caribbean waters conducted using the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species criteria. The report and supplementary materials can be downloaded from the IUCN website.

The report documents that 13.5% of the region’s shark, skate, and chimaera species qualify for one of the three “threatened” categories — Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable — associated with an elevated risk of extinction. Nine rays and 20 sharks qualify as Vulnerable. Sixteen percent of species are classified as Near Threatened, 27% as Least Concern, and 43.4% as Data Deficient. Read more

Big Day in European Shark Conservation

Silky Shark (c) 2011 David E GuggenheimBig news in shark conservation from our sister organization, Shark Advocates International: EU Officials Sign UN Migratory Shark Initiative, Propose Stronger Finning Ban

Bergen, Norway. November 21, 2011. The European Union (EU) today became a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Sharks, just as the European Commission announced a proposal to strengthen the EU ban on shark “finning” (slicing off a shark’s fins and discarding the body at sea). An EU representative signed the Shark MoU at a ceremony at the 10th Conference of the CMS Parties which opened today in Bergen while the announcement on the finning proposal came from Commission headquarters in Brussels. Read more

Slice Up Your Sunday Funnies and Save Endangered Sharks!

Click image to enlarge. © 2008 Jim Toomey.
On Sunday, April 20, 2008, Newspapers Around the Nation Carried this Special Edition of “Sherman’s Lagoon” by Jim Toomey

Cartoonist and devout conservationist, Jim Toomey, has dedicated his April 20 “Sherman’s Lagoon” comic strip to protecting sharks. His regular strip has delighted millions, featuring the antics of a variety of sea creatures, especially sharks. Here is what Jim recently wrote about this special edition of his beloved comic strip: “I have devoted my color Sunday Sherman’s Lagoon comic strip to creating awareness and public interest in shark conservation. Recent populations studies done by numerous independent marine biologists confirm that many species of large sharks from great whites to hammerheads to tiger sharks are being overfished to the point that only 10% of their historic populations remain. Read more