The Demise of Sharks - MaOceans

A couple of weeks ago, our founder and Executive Director, Stefanie Brendl had the chance to talk with Ma Oceans!

"Sharks are worth so much more to us alive than dead. A 'harvested' shark makes a few people money one time, while all the benefits of having that shark in the water are taken away forever.⁠

Most urgently, we must make a massive effort to put an end to the trade of shark fins. That wouldn’t save all sharks, but in the scheme of things, it would make the biggest difference, saving hundreds of thousands of sharks every year.⁠

We also need to be pragmatic and realize that while we think sustainability and ethics should be enough of a reason to stop killing so many sharks, regulatory decisions mostly come down to the economy and jobs. So we have to put a price tag on sharks to justify their protection. That may sound like a cold calculation, but it is the reality. We know that in ecosystem services alone, sharks deliver value day after day that is far greater than fishing. We will never save sharks on the basis of protecting beauty and bio-diversity, or just because we feel it’s wrong to wipe out majestic animals for money. Our challenge is to demonstrate their worth in every way we can, and therefore make their protection a logical, economically wise decision. One that will generate income and fuel the economy powerfully enough to warrant sacrifices, such as limiting or eliminating fishing jobs and income. We now know that income from shark fishing is a drop in the bucket when compared to that of shark tourism, which is not only better for sharks, but can bring income and jobs to people in remote regions that would otherwise have few options to build a sustainable economy."