PHOENIX (USA)- Sharks are some of the most ecologically important and most threatened animals on Earth. Recent reports show that up to one-third of all known species of sharks and their relatives, rays, are threatened with extinction. Unsustainable overfishing is the biggest threat by far. Losing sharks can disrupt coastal foodContinue Reading
GENEVA (Switzerland)- Tracking silky sharks has revealed them to be swift swimmers. But they’re also one of the most heavily fished sharks globally. Will expanded marine protection in the Tropical Eastern Pacific go far enough to protect these long-distance swimmers? Smooth, slender and swift. Enter the silky shark, one ofContinue Reading
GRAHAMSTOWN (South Africa)- When great white sharks disappeared from two well-known congregation areas on South Africa’s coast recently, the possible reasons were hotly debated. The appearance of a pair of shark-eating killer whales in the area was one. Another was the decline in numbers of smaller shark species that greatContinue Reading
LONDON (UK)- An important win for sharks! The British government today announced a ban on the import and export of shark fins. Thanks to successful campaigns by British shark conservation organizations. The new legislation will require all imported and exported shark fins to remain attached to the shark carcass and onlyContinue Reading
NAXOS (Greece)- 23 Greek Environmental Organisations call on the Ministry of Rural Development and Food to implement the legislation on the protection of sharks and rays in Greece. They have done this after yet another unfortunate incident of catching, selling and displaying of a Great White Shark in the Mediterranean, this timeContinue Reading
Oceanic sharks and rays live so far from land that the average person is unlikely to ever see them. But these species, which live in the vast open ocean, are also among the most revered, and include the great white shark and the giant manta ray. For millennia, their remotenessContinue Reading
EXETER (UK)- Bans on shark fishing are only partially effective in protecting sharks, new research suggests. Scientists from the University of Exeter, international conservation charity ZSL (Zoological Society of London) and Sri Lankan NGO Oceanswell examined the effects of a blanket ban on landing thresher sharks, brought in by the SriContinue Reading