Fw: Sharks at Risk - Take Action to Help

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" The Ocean Conservancy "

 

Sharks at Risk - Take Action to Help

 

When you think of sharks - you may think of magnificent ocean creatures that

are sleek, fast, and invulnerable. But, sharks are in fact exceptionally

vulnerable to fishing because they grow slowly and produce few young, much

like humans. Yes, in many areas, particularly our South Atlantic,

sharks are the target of fisheries. Sought primarily for their valuable fins

but also their meat, it can be a lucrative business. But sharks just can't

recoup quickly enough to keep pace with intense fishing and many shark

species are now seriously overfished, requiring decades even centuries in

the case of the dusky to recover.

 

Two shark species - dusky and sandbar - were in such bad shape in 2002, that

the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) decided to close a key shark

fishing area for most of the year to help the populations of these species

to rebuild. But, now NMFS has proposed a premature re-opening of this

closure to shark fishing for the month of July, equating to a potential

increase in fishing effort of 63%. This move would be devastating to the

already depleted populations and could well put the dusky shark on a path to

extinction.

 

Take Action

 

http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/R?i=AD4pYLIj4gWpErMGV1Ik1Q..

 

Please respond to this alert by Monday, November 15 and tell NMFS not

to weaken protections for severely depleted sandbar and dusky sharks

off the Atlantic Coast. In your response, please also demand that the

agency conduct a thorough environmental impact assessment so that decision

makers and the public are fully aware of the impacts associated with changes

to management measures.

 

Scientists have determined that it will take 250-400 years for dusky shark

populations to rebuild to healthy levels! Sandbar sharks will need about 70

years. Can you image the damage to these shark populations if fishing in

their one and only refuge were to resume? The populations may never

recover.

 

Please take action today. Tell NMFS not to step backward. Instead of

weakening protections provided by the closure, NMFS should act immediately

to strengthen conservation measures for Atlantic sharks. The sharks need

more, not less, protection we need to act now before it's too late.

 

http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/R?i=X9ug8u8mVCu_PfYj2j-Crw..