The Death of Sharks

Article: Helen Tzarimas - Sydney based journalist and ex-ABC presenter


The death of sharks - a looming threat to our ocean's future

The fight to save the world’s sharks ramped up in the 1970s when they were so demonised by a book and a movie, that people literally didn’t want to go back in the water.

Jaws the book (1973) and the namesake movie it inspired (Jaws,1974) both featured a fictional, vengeful, bloodthirsty great white shark that deliberately targeted humans.

The storylines were far from reality, but they sparked a baseless fear of sharks which resulted in a wave of slaughter as people took it upon themselves to “save human lives”.

That effect lingers today but has been greatly compounded by decades of overfishing and climate change with shark numbers dropping dramatically and some species approaching extinction. 

The dire situation was highlighted by a study that found a 71 per cent global drop in the number of sharks and their close cousins, rays, since 1970.

That’s all led to serious and justified concerns about what the effect would be for the world’s oceans and Earth. 

Sharks have graced the oceans for more that 400-million years and existed before trees.

There are more than 500 species of shark. They’re apex predators - at the top of the marine food chain which means they play a vital role in maintaining oceanic ecosystems.

But sharks have also been found to help keep climate change at bay.

This study found the near-threatened Tiger shark helps soften any underwater effects of climate change if it’s allowed to flourish.

Another one found that climate change could worsen as it kills deep-sea predators, thereby affecting the marine ecosystem and reducing the ocean’s resilience to severe climate events.

 

An estimated 100-milion sharks are caught every year for their fins, meat and liver oil.

Research has found almost 40% of the world’s shark and ray species are at risk of extinction.

In late 2022, there was a landmark vote to regulate the global trade in shark fin soup and protect 54 affected species. It’s still too early to gauge its effects.

World-renowned marine conservationist, oceanographer and shark expert, Valerie Taylor, says more action could be taken to protect vulnerable sharks.

 

In 1984 Valerie Taylor achieved a world-first when she finally won protection for Australia’s harmless but misunderstood Grey Nurse shark.

It became protected by an act of parliament with an official recovery plan established. It was declared a protected species in New South Wales waters, followed by Western Australia, Tasmania and Queensland.

But decades later, with fishing again allowed in its habitats, the slow-breeding grey nurse is listed as critically endangered.

Valerie Taylor has not given up the fight – she's working toward ensuring that 30 grey nurse habitat sites become National Marine Parks.

“The problem is bycatch, where they’re accidentally caught and discarded by commercial fishing nets. But they’re also dying from lead poisoning and hooks in their eyes.”

“They’re big problems, so I want protection for the sand gutters, where grey nurse sharks rest by day. If we can get two acres around every gutter off Australia's east protected, it will go a long way to saving them" Taylor says.

Experts including Taylor agree, there’s too much at stake and no reason why Australia and the world can’t act to stop the decline of shark numbers before it’s too late.