Shark Fin Banned in California

Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 376 into law today — legislation that will ban the import, possession, and sale of shark fins in the state of California. Since California is one of the largest markets for shark fins outside of Asia, this act is a significant step toward increasing global protection of sharks and sustaining the health of our oceans.

Governor Brown Signs California Shark Fin Ban into Law.

  

  

Shark Fin Trade Ban

California Senate Passes Landmark Shark Conservation Bill
News - 9/6/2011
By: WildAid

Sacramento, CA (September 6, 2011) – The California Senate passed Assembly Bill 376 today by a vote of 25 to 9. The bill, which previously passed the state Assembly by a vote of 60 to 8, effectively prohibits the sale, trade, and possession of shark fins within the state. Given his strong environmental record, Governor Brown is expected to sign this into law as soon as next week.

California is said to be the largest source of demand for shark fins outside of Asia, so this bill represents a major step toward reducing pressure on shark populations. Once signed into law, California will follow Hawaii, Washington, and Oregon, where similar legislation has previously passed.

Full article

 

Slaughter No ~ Protection Yes

via greenprophet.com March 20th, 2011

Dubai Marine Life At Risk After Devastating Shark Catch

(excerpt)

“It is believed that the shark was caught in the waters of Oman but brought to the UAE for sale to make a better profit. In Oman, shark fining at sea is banned and in the UAE shark fining and shark hunting between January to April was banned in 2008. Even so FOA figures show that from 1998 to 2000, around 400-500 tonnes of shark fins were exported from the UAE annually. Latest findings also reveal the growing popularity of shark-hunting as they indicate that the shark catch in the UAE shot up in 2003 to 3,060 tonnes a year.”

"Massacre" by Thomas Vignaud

Photo courtesy of  Thomas Vignaud

 

“These statistics are particularly worrying as sharks are extremely sensitive to fishing at they mature quite late and produce few offspring. As such, the death of forty-five great hammerhead pups is a serious blow to their future existence in the Arabia Gulf.”

Read the complete article here. Additional press coverage on this slaughter in gulfnews.com

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Sharks should never experience this brutal carnage
It is time for these cruel practices to come to an end

 

"Sad Place" by Thomas Vignaud

Photo courtesy of  Thomas Vignaud

“Bleeding out” by Thomas Vignaud

Photo courtesy of  Thomas Vignaud

 

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Sharks are to be studied, respected and protected

Did you know that …?

• As top predators of the seas, sharks play a key role in the health of marine ecosystems.
• Sharks grow and mature slowly.
• Some incubate their young for more than two years
• Sharks have the longest gestation period of any vertebrate, making them highly vulnerable.

 

“Release” by Thomas Vignaud

Photo courtesy of  Thomas Vignaud

 

Browse the posts in this blog to learn about the true nature of sharks and to erase misconceptions. Use the resources provided to foster education about these magnificent creatures and to protect their vulnerability.

Some ideas:

• Visit Enchanted Learning for shark facts material appropriate for children
• Write to your legislative representative to enhance shark protection in your area
• Educate yourself about the nature of sharks and share your knowledge with friends
• Find a shark welfare organisation and see what you can do
• Scuba dive to enjoy their great beauty
• Share this post or the news articles above
• Spread the word about this ongoing cruel practice

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With many thanks to  Thomas Vignaud for his image courtesy and media resources for this post.

http://www.thomasvignaud.com/

 

About Sharks and their Kin

Elasmobranchii
Sharks, skates and rays

Sharks (superorder Selachimorpha) are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago, before the time of the dinosaurs.

Since that time, sharks have diversified into 440 species, ranging in size from 17 cm (6.7 in) in length to 12 mt (39 ft 4 in).

Grey reef shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos)

Sharks are found in all seas and are common down to depths of 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). They generally do not live in freshwater, with a few exceptions such as the bull shark and the river shark which can live both in seawater and freshwater.

Whale Shark

They breathe through five to seven gill slits. Sharks have a covering of dermal denticles that protect their skin from damage and also have parasites that improve their fluid dynamics so the shark can move faster. They have several sets of replaceable teeth.

Tiger Shark

Well-known species such as the great white shark, tiger shark and the hammerhead are apex predators at the top of the underwater food chain.

Their extraordinary skills as predators fascinate and frighten humans. Their survival is seriously threatened by fishing, food consumption and other human activities.

Shark and Ray Project | Cousteau

“We must not only defend sharks because they are useful and beautiful, but we must protect the sea that feeds them. And also restore the balance of the great ocean’s ecosystem, of which sharks form an important link and on which we ultimately depend.”

Requins, Innocents sauvages, J-Y Cousteau et Yves Paccalet, Ed. Robert Laffont 1997.

Hammerhead shark

Visit Shark and Ray project | Environment | Cousteau.

Rays and Skates

(From Wikipedia)

Batoidea is a superorder of cartilaginous fish commonly known as rays and skates, containing more than 500 described species in thirteen families. They are closely related to sharks, from which they can be distinguished by their flattened bodies, enlarged pectoral fins that are fused to the head, and gill slits that are placed on their ventral surfaces.

Rays and skates

Little Skate

Skates have slow growth rates and, since they mature late, low reproductive rates. As a result skates are vulnerable to overfishing and it appears that skates have been overfished and are suffering reduced population levels in many parts of the world.

Raja clavata

 

The barndoor skate, Raja laevis, is currently listed with the IUCN as vulnerable due to being severely overfished.

Barndoor skate, Dipturus laevis

 

 

(From Wikipedia)

The manta ray (Manta birostris) is the largest species of the rays. The largest known specimen was more than 7.6 metres (25 ft) across, with a weight of about 2,300 kilograms (5,100 lb). It ranges throughout tropical waters of the world, typically around coral reefs.

Mantaray seal

 

Mantarays have the largest brain-to-body ratio of the sharks, rays and skates (Elasmobranchii)

 

Mantaray

Mantas have a variety of common names, including Atlantic manta, Pacific manta, devilfish, and just manta. At one time it was thought that there were many species of manta. However, the modern scientific consensus has been that there is just one species, a view supported by mitochondrial DNA studies.

Learn about rays and skates in Skate & Ray Factsheets

Shark Photography Ethics

“Our responsibility to the sharks goes further than avoiding direct harassment. The pictures that we show the world influence the way people view sharks in general.” –Andy Murch, elasmodiver.com

Visit Shark Photography Ethics.

Responsible Shark Ecotourism

 

“Despite surviving multiple major extinction events, sharks are now threatened by the heavy hand of man pushing them closer to the limits of their evolutionary tolerance.”

However, there is hope  in the form of ecotourism. Seen by many as the best socio-economic solution to  over-exploitation, ecotourism has the power to protect sharks and provide a living wage at the same time.

Learn more at  Shark Trust.

Art and Sharks

A beautiful collection of stamps
Collection Georges Declercq

from WoRMS

Great White Shark

Great White Shark

Sawshark

Basking Shark

Bat Ray

Blue-spotted Ray

Visit more at WoRMS

The Largest Fish

Whale Shark

Great White Shark

 

Shark Extremes – Enchanted Learning Software.

Shark Facts

Did you know that …?

• As top predators of the seas, sharks play a key role in the health of marine ecosystems.
• Sharks grow and mature slowly.
• Some incubate their young for more than two years, the longest gestation period of any vertebrate, making them highly vulnerable.
• Sharks are wary of people and most will swim away.
• Shark pups are born with large livers for survival.
• Sharks evolved to ensure their brood’s survival.

 

Learn more facts about the nature of these magnificent creatures.

Electroreception in Sharks

Electroreceptors (Ampullae of Lorenzini) are lateral line canals in the head of a shark.

Sharks and rays (members of the subclass Elasmobranchii) rely heavily on electrolocation in the final stages of their attacks, as can be demonstrated by the robust feeding response elicited by electric fields similar to those of their prey.

Sharks are the most electrically sensitive animals known, responding to DC fields as low as 5 nV/cm.

The electric field sensors of sharks are called the ampullae of Lorenzini. They consist of electroreceptor cells connected to the seawater by pores on their snouts and other zones of the head.

A problem with the early submarine telegraph cables was the damage caused by sharks who sensed the electric fields produced by these cables. It is possible that sharks may use Earth’s magnetic field to navigate the oceans using this sense.

A recent study has suggested that the same genes that contribute to a shark’s sense of electroreception may also be responsible at least in part to the development of facial structures in humans.[3]

via Electroreception – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

European Shark Week

It’s time to strengthen the finning ban

The Shark Trust, along with all European Members of the Shark Alliance, will again be hosting an array of fun activities and events for supporters and shark enthusiasts to learn more about shark conservation. Together we will continue to make our voices heard and raise awareness about the plight of sharks throughout Europe. Click here to find an event near you.

European Shark Week 2010

Focus on Finning: 9 – 17 October

The Shark Trust invites you to join us on the 9-17 October 2010, to celebrate European Shark Week 2010!

via Shark Trust.

Communication and Perception

Sharks have several highly developed senses. Their primary sense is the ability to smell. They can detect a drop of blood in 100 liters of water. They also have the ability to detect electrical charges as small as 0.005 microvolts. Prey can be detected by the electrical field generated by a beating heart or gill action.

White shark breaching

Fish in hiding can also be detected this way. At feeding aggregations, such as at whale carcasses, this generally solitary species often establishes temporary social hierarchies which are based largely on size. Among similar-sized individuals, the social hierarchy is maintained through a subtle form of body language.

Recent research has demonstrated that great whites are socially complex, featuring such behaviors as parallel swimming, jaw gaping, pectoral fin depression, and even splash-fights.

Great white sharks are also unusual among sharks in that they sometime rais their heads out of the water, apparently to observe activity above the surface.

(Aidan Martin, 2003; Dale, 2008)

via ADW: Carcharodon carcharias: Information.

Whale Shark

The whale shark, Rhincodon typus, is a slow-moving filter feeding shark, the largest living fish species. The largest confirmed individual was 12.65 metres (41.50 ft) in length. The heaviest weighed more than 36 tonnes (79,000 lb)[2], but unconfirmed claims report considerably larger whale sharks.

This distinctively-marked fish is the only member of its genus Rhincodon and its family, Rhincodontidae (called Rhinodontes before 1984), which belongs to the subclass Elasmobranchii in the class Chondrichthyes. The shark is found in tropical and warm oceans, lives in the open sea with a lifespan of about 70 years.[3] The species originated about 60 million years ago.

Although whale sharks have very large mouths, they feed mainly, though not exclusively, on plankton, microscopic plants and animals, although the BBC program Planet Earth filmed a whale shark feeding on a school of small fish.[4]

via Whale shark – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Great White Shark

The great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, also known as great white, white pointer, white shark, or white death, is a large lamniform shark found in coastal surface waters in all major oceans.

The great white shark is very well known for its size, with the largest individuals known to have approached or exceeded 6 metres (20 ft) in length and 2,268 kilograms (5,000 lb) in weight. It reaches maturity at around 15 years of age and can have a life span of over 30 years.

The great white shark is arguably the world’s largest known extant macropredatory fish and is one of the primary predators of marine mammals. It is also known to prey upon a variety of other marine animals including fish, pinnipeds, and seabirds. It is the only surviving species of its genus, Carcharodon.

via Great white shark – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Sharks and Extinction

Understanding sharks

 

 

 

Many of the world’s shark species are at risk of extinction

We need to act now to protect them.

Sharks and Ecosystems

“We must not only defend sharks because they are useful and beautiful, but we must protect the sea that feeds them. And also restore the balance of the great ocean’s ecosystem, of which sharks form an important link and on which we ultimately depend.”

Requins, Innocents sauvages, J-Y Cousteau et Yves Paccalet, Ed. Robert Laffont 1997.

Shark Conservation Act of 2009

Saving The Sharks: The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee voted to strengthen the nation’s shark finning ban

These apex predators are a vital part of the ocean health.

Shark Conservation Act of 2009

H.R. 81:111^th Congress 2009-2010

To amend the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to improve the conservation of sharks.

Identifying Tiger Sharks

Learn how to identify Tiger Sharks

Coastal Development

Tropical island-nations that sacrifice their nursery habitats to coastal development lose not only shark babies but also older sharks from their local areas, with potentially dire effects on the surrounding ecosystem.

Ban on Finning

Ban the cruelty of finning of sharks

Maligned and misunderstood, sharks are species at risk who need our help to survive. Subjected to overexploitation for the Asian food market, the cruel method of finning leaves sharks alive, with their fins removed, sinking to death unable to swim.

Become informed and join international efforts to stop this cruel practice

Sharks and Balance

Hammerhead shark

Sharks and rays play an extremely important role in maintaining the
balance of our ocean’s ecosystems, on which we depend.

Enter Jacques Cousteau’s
video footage on shark conservation

Whale Shark Project

To improve the protection and understanding of the world’s largest fish

It is estimated that Whale Sharks do not reach sexual maturity
for 30 years and live between 60 and 100 years.

Visit this project at Shark Trust