Shark populations have seen a dramatic decrease in numbers in the past 50 years, overfishing, a rise in sea temperatures and pollution has led to the ocean’s top predator are now categorised as either endangered or critically endangered. Whilst many of us feel that the ocean is so far removed from our society, and so the reduction of sharks does not affect us, below I will detail how it affects us globally, and how to help.
A 2021 study, conducted by nature journal, deciphered that the main cause for the decrease in shark population was due to fishing pressure: ocean-wide management has fallen apart, the wcpfc (western and central pacific fisheries commission) and iccat (international commission for the conservation of Atlantic tuna) are responsible for the protection of the Atlantic and pacific oceans, however poor management has led to overfishing in order to meet humanities demands. Despite companies like reuters implementing lighted fishing nets to try and protect species which accidentally get caught in nets, it is not enough. In 2012 the wcpfc adopted a ban on the capture of sharks in the Atlantic, meaning if caught in a net they must be released, in spite of this they still sustain injuries, likewise, there is still a large demand for shark fins even with the MSC prohibiting it, in remote islands reef, hammerhead and blue sharks are mostly captured with around 20 million killed for their fins annually according to shark stewards.
Furthermore, the international demand for fish, for humans, has led to the oceanic world becoming underdeveloped; there is less fish, meaning less food for sharks hence the decline, with over 6 million metric tonnes of tuna alone being taken from the world’s oceans yearly, this threatens a major problem for the oceans wildlife.
Sharks are at the top of the food chain in the ocean, they are a key factor to sustaining a healthy habitat. balancing the oceans food web sharks are vastly important to maintaining the oceans, without sharks many other species will die out. For instance, in an area where a shark population has significantly declined, the habitat becomes overpopulated by rays; rays lead to ‘bottom feeding’ which has a knock-on effect on the seagrass beds. The seagrass bed inhabits multiple different species and provide nurseries for those who need protecting, without sharks to protect these fisheries, outer species can invade and destroy.
So why does this affect humanity? According to live science, sharks play an important role in the regulation of oxygen production in the oceans, sharks do not obtain lungs, they filter the oxygen from the ocean through their gills before pushing out the excess water, they also feed on fish which eat oxygen-generating plankton: without the sharks, the population of these fish will expand, leading to a depletion of plankton which ultimately leads to starvation for the fish. With this, fisheries worldwide will collapse, with no fish to catch, economies will plummet, especially in countries like Thailand where fishing is necessary. The Thailand fish industry employs over 800,00 people, and supplies more than $6 billion worth of products yearly worldwide.
Likewise, sharks are essential to the development of coral reefs, when the decline of sharks and fish in an area occurs, algae take over the coral reef; eventually leading to its death. Coral reefs are essential to humanity, they protect us from coastline erosion, devastating storms and provide local communities with employment, alongside being a source for food and essential medicine.
And so, despite movies like jaws portraying sharks as this frightening creature, which has led many of us to become threatened by them, their role in the ocean is one which will significantly impact not just the oceans environment, but ours as well.
Whilst it may seem all doom and gloom, there is still hope, but sharks require our help; the first step is education, through learning of the importance of sharks we can understand how to connect and save them, sharkworld is an excellent source of information regarding this topic, as well as the website containing many sources of how to directly help. Donations to certified charities, like the shark trust can greatly help, as well as signing petitions, taking pledges and informing others on the topic. If these options are inapplicable to you, reducing your seafood intake can also help, moving to a once a week occurrence, or less, can help with overfishing.
Lastly, restricting the purchasing of squalene and squalane cosmetic products, as this ingredient typically comes from shark liver oil unless it is specifically started to be 100% plant derived, as this ingredient as this is derived from sugarcanes.