Australia, Don't Hunt Sharks to Extinction!
- van: Lynn Hamilton
- ontvanger: Joe Ludwig, Government Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Western Australia is proposing an open season on Australia's few remaining great white sharks -- despite the failure of a recent hunt to turn up any white sharks four to five meters in length.
Putting the interests of tourists and jet skiers over those of wildlife, Fisheries Minister Norman Moore has agreed to negate the great white shark's protected status if the federal government follows suit.
This comes at a time when worldwide, tens of millions of sharks have been hunted and killed just to make shark soup, according to a recent article in The Guardian. Meanwhile, the majority of the rare shark attacks have occurred when swimmers and fishermen ignore clear warning signs.
Sharks have been on the planet for hundreds of thousands of years; the fact that we are now considering allowing their free-for-all slaughter is unconscionable. We shouldn't punish the few remaining great whites for people's mistakes.
Tell Australia to share the surf and protect the white shark!
We the undersigned ask that you not remove federal or local protections from the great white shark.
Worldwide, the great white is being hunted to extinction, often for something as frivolous and morally horrific as shark soup. The very few shark attacks that have occurred can be avoided by keeping swimmers and surfers out of known shark areas and educating the public on how not to attract sharks. Chumming, the practice of putting bloody bait into the ocean to attract fish, should be prohibited.
Please keep your great white sharks on the Endangered Species List. They are irreplaceable.
