#SharkFreeChips

South Africa’s shark population is collapsing at an alarming rate. Thousands of sharks, including their iconic Hammerheads and Great Whites are disappearing from under their very noses. And even worse, other endangered shark species are being exported to Australia where they are sold to an unknowing public in Fish ‘n’ Chips (disguising the shark meat as “Flake”). A fishery by the name of Demersal Shark Longlining (DSL) that has been working along our coastline is overfishing smoothhound and soupfin shark on a devastatingly intense basis, regularly catching up to 1,000 sharks per trip, per vessel. They mostly target Smoothhound and Soupfin sharks, but also catch and kill CITES-protected shark species such as Smooth Hammerhead sharks and Great White sharks (in MPAs!). At these current rates, not only does South Africa stand to lose its most iconic shark species, but this in turn is having a devastating impact on the tourism industry, on their economy and their ecosystem health. Removing apex predators is never a good thing. This fishery is permitted, but not sustainably managed by The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF). DEFF has no catch limits and no size limits. Contrary to their own scientist warning them of a looming collapse, DEFF has not changed a single thing. So now it is imperative we collectively act to put public pressure on Minister Barbara Creecy and MyANC to put a stop to this senseless slaughter. Please repost these images, sound the alarm to everyone you know and tell them to visit Sharkfreechips.com where you can directly tweet at the Minister asking her to close down the Fishery responsible for this slaughter and integrate these fishermen elsewhere. By letting this slaughter continue, we are destroying South Africa’s economy, tourism and ecosystem.