the dying ocean
TRANSCRIPT
The Dying Ocean
Nelson Le
Linneah Gomez
William Ly-Lee
Natalia Becker
Overfishing is Cruel
Overfishing- when organisms are being caught faster than they can reproduce
200 million people depend on fish
Hooked on Shark
Sharks play a vital role in maintaining the health of marine ecosystems
Over one hundred million sharks are killed by commercial fisheries each year
Harvested for their fins, meat, or liver oil
What effects on the marine ecosystem of losing one or more shark species?
It is recognized that removal of top predators in terrestrial and marine ecosystems can cause a ripple effect on organisms
The problem lies with predicting what the effect may be
The loss of C. carcharias (Great White)
might result in population explosions of seals, sea-lions, and other sharks
– Increases in these species, can cause the ecosystem to shift off balance
Cause
Commercial fishing has the potential to severely impact shark populations in almost all habitats
Sharks are being hunted for their fins and their meat
Decline in the Ocean
Two of the greatest threats to sharks are finning and bycatch
Fins: 26 to 73 million per year
50 million sharks are caught unintentionally as bycatch
Reason Behind the Slaughter
Many of the fishing industry stated that killing these animals would lower shark attack
Finning not Fishing
Killing sharks for their prized fins
Some ranging 100 to 1000 dollar for one fin
Product:Shark Fin Soup
Bycatch…Catching the Drift?
When commercial fishermen catch animals that are not their desired catch, they call those animals "bycatch."
These unwanted animals are then thrown back to the ocean dead, dying, or injured.
One Effect Leads to Another
“The study, by Ransom A. Myers of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and colleagues, is among the few to document the cascading effects that the loss of a top predator can have on a marine ecosystem. In the absence of large sharks, the researchers say, the smaller sharks, skates and rays that they feed upon have thrived. In turn, the study shows that as one of these middle links in the food chain, the cownose ray, has become more abundant, it has wiped out scallop beds in North Carolina.” (New York Times)
Long Term Effect
The loss of biodiversity
Consumption of Sharks will decline
Why are sharks so important?
keeps our oceans clean and helps to control populations of other ocean animals.
Without a top predator like sharks, animals lower on the food chain would experience a population explosion, potentially devouring their food sources until there is nothing left.
Brief History
Records shows that form 1970s to 2005 reveals a dramatic decline in the shark populations
Tiger sharks and hammerheads have declined more than 97 percent since the mid-1980s
Common Sense
Increase awareness on the need for shark conservation
Management of shark fisheries, encouraging the government to address shark bycatch problems, and reducing the demand for shark products
Pressing for a shark finning ban
Modest Proposal
Creating Shark havensAllowing the sharks to:
Reproduce
Feed
Protection form man
Organizations
http://oceana.org/north-america/home/
http://www.animalsvoice.com/
http://www.sharkprotect.com/links.cfm
http://www.sharktrust.org/
Will Sharks soon become our forgotten memory?
Sites
http://oceana.org/north-america/home/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/feb/18/conservation.aaas
http://www.gettyimages.com
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080522/sc_livescience/majorityofoceanicsharkspeciesfaceextinction
http://www.bite-back.com/shark_conservation.htm