Shark Tournaments

Here is a great resource to learn all about Shark Tournaments in 9 points.

NFL SUNDAY TICKET only on DIRECTV

Shark Hunting - Overview
The 1974 film release of Jaws immortalized the image of sharks as terrifying killing machines. And that thrilling fiction has dominated the reality: that sharks are sentient beings who feel pain, that they are essential to a healthy ocean ecosystem and that they are disappearing from our oceans at an alarming rate because humans are killing them in unsustainable numbers. Research has shown that populations of all large sharks have declined dramatically, some by as much as 80 percent in the past 20 years alone.

Sport, Not Science
Some shark tournament proponents justify the contests in the name of science, saying that biologists study the dead sharks to learn about shark populations. But since tournament fishermen target only the largest sharks, the contests don't provide a useful sample of shark populations. Virtually all of what we know about sharks comes from scientifically valid studies. Tournaments are for sport, not science.

Shark tournaments are cruel, ecologically irresponsible events designed to make a spectator sport out of killing sharks and watching them be killed. The pain and death suffered by those sharks who fall victim to the competitions and the additional cost to already imperiled shark populations are too high a price to pay for that dubious thrill.

Unsustainable Kills
Sport fishermen and promoters of shark tournaments are contributing to the ongoing declines in shark populations. International experts have found that fully one fifth of all species of sharks and rays are threatened with extinction. A global shark assessment concluded that extinction is imminent for many species if the current level of fishing mortality remains the same.

Are Sharks endangered?
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), one fifth of all sharks and rays are threatened with extinction. A 2003 study in the journal Science concluded that all shark species, with the exception of makos, had declined by more than 50 percent in the previous eight to 15 years. Hammerheads and thresher sharks declined by as much as 80 percent.

What is The HSUS doing about commercial shark fishing?
Humane Society International is working in conjunction with other groups to address the issue of shark finning and the international trade of shark meat. The HSUS is appointed to a federal panel working with long line fisheries to reduce by catch associated with the fishery.

Why are shark populations declining?
Relentless pressure from commercial fisheries has rapidly pushed many shark species toward extinction. People kill sharks for meat and fins. The oil in their livers is also used medicinally (e.g., Preparation H and some vitamins use shark liver oil). Long line, driftnet and trawl fisheries may target sharks. Sometimes fishing boats accidentally catch sharks and discard them as waste.

A Disappearing Predator
Mass shark killing contests are not only cruel, but they also target members of already imperiled populations of slow breeding and ecologically important shark species. Like whales, most species of sharks reproduce late in life—some are as old as 20 years—and give birth to few young. It can take decades for populations to recover from being killed in large numbers by fishermen.

Will stopping shark tournaments save sharks?
Ending shark killing contests alone won't save sharks, but it is a necessary first step. Stopping tournaments will end one source of unnecessary mortality and begin to challenge the notion that sharks are a vicious predator that oceans are better off without. Sharks deserve the basic protections we give other declining species—such as whales—whose vulnerability was recognized only after they were killed in numbers that caused widespread population crashes. Ending tournaments is one way to promote respect for these ancient and noble predators and it is a very visible way to say that their survival matters.

What You Can Do to Help End Shark Tournaments?
Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper to let the public know the truth behind these events. Contact local governments and urge officials, such as the board of selectmen or town council, in communities holding shark tournaments to stop these events. Let them know that the tournaments damage the reputation of their communities.


Local Articles
Entertainment
Home