This Shark Week, Save Duskies from Reckless Fishing

  • by: Christopher Burley
  • recipient: Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Reckless fishing practices are taking a terrible toll on dusky sharks. In fact, Atlantic duskies have declined by an astonishing 99 percent in just the last 40 years, according to the advocacy group Oceana.

Duskies and other sharks are a vital part of balanced marine ecosystems. When they are removed, the species upon which they feed can become overpopulated, causing a chain-reaction that can destabilize entire fisheries.

Unfortunately, longline fishing and other indiscriminate fishing practices continue to unintentionally ensnare and kill these rare sharks at alarming rates.

Dusky sharks need your help. Sign the petition now to urge Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to reduce unintentional shark deaths by capping the number of sharks that can be killed by bycatch and closing key areas for duskies to longline fishing.

Dear Dr. Sullivan,

As someone who cares about protecting wildlife, I strongly urge you to step up your agency’s efforts to regulate and monitor the use of fishing practices that threaten dusky sharks in the Atlantic Ocean.

According to Oceana:

"Populations off the Atlantic coast are estimated to have declined by 99 percent over the last 40 years as a result of overfishing and bycatch."

The group also estimates that, from 2000 to last year, as many as 75,000 dusky sharks may have fallen victim to bycatch. Clearly, more must be done to protect these important ocean predators.

[Your comments]

I strongly urge you to strengthen the rules around using longlines and gillnets in dusky shark habitat and to improve monitoring requirements to ensure compliance. Specifically, I urge you to require an accurate accounting from fishing operations of the number of sharks that are unintentionally ensnared, cap the number of sharks that can be killed by bycatch and close key areas for duskies to longline fishing.

Thank you for considering my comments.

Sincerely,

[Your name]
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