Sharks are Finished (Expert Article)

Sharks are Finished

An in-depth analysis of how shark fin harvesting is not only leading to the destruction of shark populations, but the ocean's ecosystem as a whole.

Article by Davis Hayter

Since he was born, Davis has had a passion for marine life. He is currently in the process of completing his business degree with an emphasis in entrepreneurship at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. He hopes to one day free dive with a Great White Shark. After graduation, Davis has plans to start a clothing line that raises awareness and benefits shark conservation organizations. 

Want to incite pandemonium on a beach? Just yell “Shark!”

When people think of dangers in the ocean, they think of sharks. Many often tell you to not swim too far off the beach or go in the water after dusk because you might get attacked by a shark. A lot of us have never even seen one of these creatures. Regardless, they are still one of the first things we worry about when we enter the ocean. We demonize these animals, making them out to be pure man eaters with killer instincts.

Ironically, we are actually the ones that are hunting sharks. In recent years, shark numbers have declined significantly. Millions of sharks are killed annually due to bycatch and finning practices. This has resulted in a major decrease in the health of not only the species of sharks, but the oceans’ ecosystem as a whole.

Sharks as a Keystone Species

A Blacktip reef shark cruising the
shallow reefs of a tropical lagoon.
(Pollock/Marine Photobank)

Sharks are considered to be a keystone species of the ocean. This means their removal could result in the collapse of the entire ecosystem (WildAid). They keep their prey species in balance by preying on the weak and sick.

By targeting sick and weak fish, they reduce the risk of diseases spreading across prey populations. They also strengthen the overall gene pool of their prey (WildAid). By taking out the weak, they allow for only the stronger fish to reproduce.

Sharks also serve as enforcers to limit overgrazing on marine vegetation by their prey. It was reported that sharks might actually “intimidate” their prey into practicing healthier habits (WildAid). For example, it was discovered by scientists in Hawaii that having tiger sharks in the area prevent green sea turtles from overgrazing the healthiest marine vegetation habitats.

As a keystone species, the extinction of sharks would throw off the entire food chain of the ocean. An example of the impact caused by another keystone species going extinct can be observed with wolf populations in Yellowstone. In the 1930’s people killed nearly all wolves in the area. This allowed for Elk populations to exceed Yellowstone’s carrying capacity and overgraze on vegetation (MyYellowstone). With less vegetation, especially around waterways, it caused a domino effect on the ecosystem through results of erosion into rivers and declining beaver populations.

How Humans Have Villainized Sharks

Steven Spielberg's Jaws Released
in 1975.
(10 Things More Likely Than a
Shark Attack)

“Martin, it’s all psychological. You yell, “Barracuda,” everybody says, “huh, what?” You yell “Shark,” we’ve got a panic on our hands on the Fourth of July.” – Mayor Vaughn (Jaws, 1975).

It is important to remember that the ocean is the sharks’ home and not ours. Have sharks attacked humans before? Well, yes. In 2018, it was reported that 32 unprovoked shark attacks happened in the United States with one being fatal (FisheriesBlog). However, if you think about how many people actually go into the water annually, 32 people is not that many.

Statistically, the odds for someone getting attacked and killed by a shark are 1 in 3,748,067 (The International Shark Attack File). In fact, you are more likely to die from getting hit from an asteroid (1 in 75,000) or being injured by a toilet (96.4 in 100,000) than to get attacked by a shark (FisheriesBlog).

However, we have amplified these rare attacks to be more than what they really are through media. When Steven Spielberg’s Jaws was released in 1975, it changed the way sharks were portrayed in films and TV forever. Since then, sharks have been consistently made out to be giant human killers. In the recent decades, the amount of shark horror films has risen (Telegraph). This has ultimately put this species in the infamous spotlight, making them appear to be a direct threat to human safety.

47 Meters Down (2017) Directed by
Johannes Roberts
(Wikipedia.com)

Negative depictions of sharks are not limited to just fictional movies. Anytime a shark is even spotted, it seems to be reported across news channels. It was reported that between 2000 and 2010, more than half of all news articles covering sharks by 20 major U.S. newspapers had attacks as the primary topic (PubMed.gov). Even with sharks nearing extinction, only 11% of articles talked about shark conservation.

Humans are the Real Killers

Propaganda Against Shark Finning
(Tumblr.com)

With how humans view sharks currently, it is no wonder why we would turn a blind eye to their declining numbers. Many would be shocked to hear that humans kill an estimated 100 million sharks annually (FIU News). This number does not account for shark deaths due to unreported or illegal catches and bycatch.

With the rising popularity of shark fin soup, the demand for shark fins has increased. This has resulted in growing practices of shark “finning,” where fishermen will cut off all of a shark’s fins and dump the corpse back into the ocean.

Due to our current fishing practices, scientists have seen shark populations decline at a very alarming rate. Species around the globe are nearly extinct. For example, shark species along the cost of Queensland, Australia had decreased 90% over recent decades (The Guardian).

You might be thinking that killing sharks could reduce the chances of humans being attacked. Wrong! Shark attacks on humans worldwide have actually increased in recent decades. The only results we have seen from declining shark numbers have been negative impacts on the entire ocean ecosystem.

So.. What Do We Do?

As shark conservation has recently become more of a time sensitive issue, people are finally starting to wake up. Organizations are beginning to be built with the sole purpose of conserving sharks. Foundations such as SharkSavers have campaigned across the world to put a stop to shark finning and have found some success. It was recently reported that there has been a 50-70% decrease in shark fin consumption in China since 2011 (WildAid).

People are starting to recognize the harms behind consuming shark fins and have slowed their consumption. Although this sounds promising, conservation organizations are still fighting an uphill battle and sharks are still being slaughtered.

The next step towards protecting sharks is passing legislation that bans shark fin trade. Currently, the Federal Shark Fin Elimination Act is being processed by the US Congress (WildAid). This bill will stop the United States from participating in the devastation of sharks globally. Sharks have existed on our planet for more than 400 million years. The only threat to their existence on this planet is us. We need to continue to raise awareness and change our ways in order to protect sharks and ensure the health of our oceans’ ecosystem.

Works Cited

Adkins, JoAnn. “Fishing Leads to Significant Shark Population Declines, Researchers Say.” FIU News, 22 Aug. 2013, news.fiu.edu.

Cox, Lisa. “Shark Numbers Decline by up to 90% in Five Decades off Queensland Coast.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 13 Dec. 2018, www.theguardian.com.

Hawkes, Rebecca. “From Jaws to The Shallows: How Hollywood Demonises Sharks .” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 12 Aug. 2016, www.telegraph.co.uk.

Lynch, Abigail J. “Ten Things More Likely than a Shark Attack.” The Fisheries Blog, 19 June 2017, thefisheriesblog.com.

Muter, B A, et al. “Australian and U.S. News Media Portrayal of Sharks and Their Conservation.” Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Feb. 2013, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

“Sharks' Role in the Oceans.” Shark Savers : Sharks' Role in the Ocean, www.sharksavers.org.

Staff. “Wolf Reintroduction Changes Ecosystem.” My Yellowstone Park, My Yellowstone Park, 15 Jan. 2019, www.yellowstonepark.com.

Photos Used

“47 Meters Down Theatrical Release Poster.” Wikipedia, 2017, wikipedia.org.

“The Shallows.” IMP Awards, Aug. 2016, impawards.com.

Trynottodrown. “Human.” Tumblr, 2015, trynottodrown.tumblr.com.

“Sharknado.” IMDB, 2013, imdb.com.