Sharktober is a celebration of white sharks to our Sanctuary offshore, and to educate and motivate the public to save endangered sharks and rays. Our first Sharktoberfest events were intended to drive support for the now successful California Shark Fin Ban introduced by Shark Stewards, and the USA shark fin trade ban passed in 2022. Since that time we have used these events with our partners at the California Academy of Sciences, the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, the California Ocean Protection Council and other NGOS and agencies to reach over 100,000 public and youth directly in the Bay Area and beyond to celebrate and save sharks. Join us for our 15th year celebrating and saving sharks!
Read More“Depredation” US Representatives Introduce SHARKED Act
The SHARKED Act sponsors widely represent the fishing industry including fishing guides and tournament organizers, who decry the partial or loss of their catch to a shark. The evidence that there is an increase in shark’s taking fish is anecdotal and not quantified.
Tell the House Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries to base decisions on Science and Management, Not Emotion.
International Whale Shark Day-respecting the ocean’s largest living fish.
According to the IUCN, the Indo-Pacific population of the whale shark is thought to have reduced 63 percent over the past 75 years. These magnificent sharks are now endangered globally. Join us for a live webinar tonight and learn how to observe, document and save sharks.
Read MoreNOAA seeks public comment on Chumash Heritage sanctuary draft proposal
Following input from tribal nations, state and federal agencies, conservationists and the public, NOAA has released a proposal to designate a 5,617-square-mile area offshore of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties in central California as Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.
Read MoreHave You Seen A Shark? Shark Week News
Sharks are also in the news since summer months bring more people in contact with waters where sharks swim. Warmer waters bring rays and juvenile sharks closer to shore, with an increased odds that humans and sharks shall meet.
Read MoreThe Tigers of the Sea
While the tiger shark ranks second on the list of number of recorded shark attacks on humans, behind the great white shark, such attacks are few and very seldom fatal. Known as Mano Niuhi in Hawaiian, these sharks are well documented in oral history and Hawaiian cultural lore. There are between two to four shark bites in Hawaiian waters every year, most on the islands of Oahu and Maui.
Read MoreKEEP THE SHARKS ALIVE – SHARK WEEK
Given its significant viewership and media influence, Shark Week has a responsibility to strike a balance between entertainment and education, and not stray from science for the sake of sensationalism.
Read MoreHow Jaws Influenced Shark Perception
Twenty-one years after publication, Peter Benchley, the author of the best selling novel from which the script was derived said, “I couldn’t write Jaws today. The extensive new knowledge of sharks would make it impossible for me to create, in good conscience, a villain of the magnitude and malignity of the original.”
Read MoreUK Joins Canada and USA to Ban the Fin Trade
On June 29, 2023, The Shark Fins Act passed into law in the United Kingdom, protecting sharks in UK waters and a major step for conservation of sharks around the world. Following Canada and the USA, the Shark Fins Act will ban the import and export of detached shark fins, including all products containing shark fins such as canned shark fin soup. Shark Stewards applauds the example set by the United Kingdom ,and joins the StopFinning Eu coalition and calls on the EU to follow the lead to reduce impacts on Atlantic and global shark populations by facilitating the shark fin trade.
Read MoreACT NOW TO END THE LAST LETHAL NET FISHERY OFF CALIFORNIA
Set gillnets are the primary threat to juvenile great white sharks in their nursery grounds off California. White sharks play an important ecosystem role, and their population is still at low numbers and in recovery.
We can stop the needless slaughter of sharks, dolphins, sea turtles, and other marine wildlife by these nets off the coast of California. Urge the California Fish and Game Commission to declare the bycatch in the California Set Gillnet Fishery unacceptable.
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