ESA – Shark Stewards

Voices: A Scalloped Hammerhead’s Call from Hawaii

Even though Hawaii’s hammerhead population isn’t currently listed under the ESA, it’s connected to these other populations through migration and genetic exchange. We’re all part of the same species. When hammerheads in the Atlantic or Pacific are killed, it affects the entire global population.

This is why we need the ESA to remain strong: sharks in all waters should be protected like the hammerheads of Hawaii. We shouldn’t have to wait until a population is on the brink of extinction before we act. We should protect all populations, in all waters, before it’s too late.

Save the Soufin Shark and Defend the ESA. Color and Mail to Secretary Burgum (by December 21)

Download the Sammy the Soupfin Shark coloring page from Shark Stewards and color me in! Make me as beautiful and colorful as you want. Then write a short message on your drawing like:

“Dear Secretary Burgum, Please protect Sammy the Soupfin Shark and keep the Endangered Species Act strong! Sharks need our help! From, [Your Name]”

Mail your colored drawing to: Secretary Doug Burgum U.S. Department of the Interior 1849 C Street NWWashington, DC 20240

For far too long, the soupfin shark has faced a relentless onslaught of threats, pushing its global populations to the brink. At the latest Conference of the Parties to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), soupfin sharks achieved international protection from trade.

On November 19, the administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), under the leadership of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, announced a sweeping set of proposals to roll back critical protections for our nation’s wildlife. The USFWS has opened a strict 30-day public comment period ending December 22, 2025.

Making your voice heard is easy and takes less than 5 minutes. The most effective way to protect the Endangered Species Act is to submit your comment directly to the official federal record. Draft language to USFWS and Department of the Interior Doug Burgum.

On November 19th the Trump Administration has published a proposal by US Fish and Wildlife to roll back Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections, specifically focusing on the removal of the “blanket rule” and its impact on threatened shark species. The public has a December 22nd deadline to comment to prevent the ESA from being weekend.

A change in the ESA could reverse critical environmental safeguards and over 50 years of important species protection. Allowing habitat destruction could be the death knell for imperiled species across the United States and beyond, including great hammerhead sharks, green sea turtles and short tailed albatross.
This month we are campaigning the US Congress to support endangered marine life and marine protection.

The Trump administration is trying to undermine language in the Endangered Species Act to make it easier for developers and industry. It would loosen restrictions on industrial activities like coastal development and oil exploration that might damage an endangered animal’s habitat, even if the animal itself is not directly harmed.

Shark Stewards joins the Center for Biological Diversity calling for increased protection for Great Hammerhead Sharks under the ESA and in their complete range. We are also asking NMFS to support the motion to uplist this species and the scalloped hammerhead to Appendix I at the Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species in Panama, 2022.

Voices: A Scalloped Hammerhead’s Call from Hawaii

Voices of Extinction A Soupfin Shark’s Plea for Survival

Hope for the Soupfin Shark: CITES Protection and the Fight Ahead

USFWS Threatens to Gut the Endangered Species Act

Defend the ESA: Submitting Comments

Public Comments Needed to Defend the Endangered Species Act

Endangered Species Day, ESA Act at Risk

Defend the Endangered Species Act

Petition to Protect Great Hammerhead Sharks Under Endangered Species Act