Out of all of the problems facing the ocean, why protect sharks?
Studies reveal that sharks play an irreplaceable role in maintaining healthy marine environments. As apex predators, sharks are critically important to the ocean and its fragile balance and help to keep populations of other species in correct proportion to one another. Recent studies indicate that regional elimination of sharks can cause disastrous effects further down the food chain including the collapse of fisheries and the death of coral reefs. Despite their importance, shark populations are rapidly declining around the world, even where they are protected. This decline is primarily because of increased consumption of shark fin soup. Sharks are among the most heavily targeted marine species and are subjected to relentless overfishing for their fins. Unfortunately, sharks have a very low reproductive capability making it difficult for them to withstand overfishing. Sharks reach sexual maturity after many years and produce relatively few ‘pups’ in a lifetime. This collection of facto
