Due to an explosion in shark fishing across the globe, shark numbers have declined by a staggering 90% throughout our oceans.
An incredible 100 million sharks are killed each year. In other words, over 270,000 sharks are fished each and every day. This rate is pushing many species to the edge of extinction.
Huge consumer demand for shark fins and other shark related products has made sharks amongst the most valuable animals in the sea; it has also made them the most vulnerable.
Urgent action is needed if this wonderfully diverse, awe-inspiring and threatened group of species is to survive.
"Sharks are crucial to the ecological resilience of the ocean, especially in the light of rapid human-driven climate change. Without sharks and many other ecologically important species, ecosystems become fragile and the risk goes up that climate change will finally clobber them for once and for all. We must not let that happen"
Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Smart State Premier's Fellow (2008-2013), Director, Global Change Institute; Director, Stanford Australia; Reviewing Editor at Science Magazine, and Deputy Director, ARC Centre for Excellence in Coral Reef Studies
Take Action
Send a letter to the Hon Peter Garrett, AM, MP, Australia's Environment Minister by clicking here.
