Sharks play a key role in our natural, social, and economic systems. Climate change, food security, sustainable fisheries, the protection of biodiversity, ensuring sustainable economies - all of these systems are built on functioning ocean ecosystems. A healthy ocean needs abundant and healthy shark populations.
Our challenge is clear - What do we have to do to ensure there is a future for sharks?
How do we create a future where we coexist WITH sharks?
OUR CURRENT FOCUS
STOP FINS EU
It’s time for the EU to take their member states out of the Fin Trade. Together with a coalition of European Shark and Ocean conservation Groups, we are moving a proposal through the slow quagmire of the European Union’s legislative process.
StopFinningEU representatives will be attending the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) in Nice.
END DRIFT GILLNETS IN CALIFORNIA
While drift gillnets have been outlawed in California, set gillnets are still trapping sealife and causing non-target species to die in numbers that are unacceptable. This campaign is another coalition campaign that brings together many groups from the region.
THE TRUE VALUE OF SHARKS
Sharks can generate income for decades and contribute a significant amount to economies around the world, when they are alive and thriving. How much exactly are they worth? We have teamed up with Endangered Wildlife to make comprehensive financial valuations of a series of shark species in very specific locations. We continue to generate more valuations and are diving deep into the question of how much they have earned the entertainment industry over the past 4 decades.
in the news
Photo by @philwaller
By Rhett Ayers Butler
Shark conservation is not a field for the faint of heart. It pits biology against commerce, sentiment against symbolism, and, frequently, science against entrenched bureaucracies. Sharks themselves, apex predators honed over hundreds of millions of years, are now among the most imperiled inhabitants of the world’s oceans. Vilified in pop culture, sliced up for their fins, and managed more like commodities than living creatures, sharks have few allies in high places. Read the full article.
Image by Chris Fallows
OUR Shark valuations are gaining attention
This week, the world observed International Day for Biological Diversity and South Africa is faced with a harsh reminder of what’s at stake with the dramatic disappearance of the Great White Shark from its once-thriving hunting grounds in False Bay. The United Nations marked May 22 as a day to reflect on the critical importance of biodiversity as a yardstick for humanity and the planet.
Making Waves for Shark Protection
From Fear to Fin-tastic: Jonas and Jelle Dive In to Defend Sharks
When Belgian entertainers Jonas Van Geel and Jelle Cleymans reached out to us about swimming with sharks in mermaid tails for a new TV show, we weren’t sure whether to laugh—or start planning. But their mission was clear: face their fears and inspire respect for sharks through the power of transformation.
In their show Zero to Heroes, Jonas and Jelle—best friends since they were twelve—set out to become real-life superheroes. Each episode, they choose a childhood hero (like Tarzan, Batman, or The Little Mermaid), research who embodies that archetype today, and try to become just like them……
By Blake Martinez
FIGHTING FOR FLORIDA
We are proud to be featured in this wonderful, grassroots-produced documentary by Wilson McCourtney, an ocean advocate and filmmaker from Florida who is on a mission to shine a light on some of the biggest environmental problems the state is facing. With his production company Dream Reef Cinema he has been making films for years. His documentary “Fighting for Florida” covers a range of topics in the Sunshine State including the continued struggle with red tide events and Shark Allies’ 2020 NoFinsFL shark fin trade ban.
The documentary just won an "Award of Excellence" from IndieFest Film Awards and was chosen as an "Official Selection" for the "Nature Without Borders International Film Festival" as well as the "Impact Doc Awards"
We rise from the ashes
We have had a rough start this year, with all of our materials, inventory, and assets burning to nothing left but ashes, in the California Palisades fire. We took a moment to regroup, but now we are going to come back stronger than ever.
we are uniting with partners to celebrate RESILIENCE!
We have several unique collaborations coming up, including our most awesome Shark Weekend Tattoo event in San Diego. It will be bigger and better than ever before and Kyle Walker from Even Keel Tattoos is already working on a t-shirt design that expresses how we feel.
Hold the date for July 12/13 for the 2025 Even Keel Shark Weekend
Details and more events will be announced soon!
