Shark Tournaments Need To Be Outlawed!
“In the age of ecological awareness, shark tournaments are grotesque anachronisms — to the ethical angling community what phlebotomy knives are to the medical profession.”
– Ted Williams, award winning columnist and fishing enthusiast
Killing for sport, whether on land or at sea is a hobby in need of retirement which is still occurring in at least six coastal communities in the States of Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, according to an article in Hatch: https://www.hatchmag.com/articles/its-time-america-outgrow-shark-tournaments/7715957
One such activity, shark tournaments, continue to this day, despite the fact that sharks are becoming more endangered, and the importance of sharks to healthy ecosystems is now a well-known fact.
Unfortunately, this barbaric practice continues, especially in the South, but also in places like Massachusetts, and there is currently a push for more tournaments.
These tournaments offer the biggest cash prizes for the largest sharks, which are often females, critically important to maintaining healthy shark populations. To make matters worse, most sharks have long gestation periods and produce very few pups.
Sometimes shark tournaments organizers try to justify the event by claiming they are collecting data for science, but few if any legitimate scientists make such a claim anymore, especially in this day and age with the new technology of satellite and acoustic tagging that are elucidating these fascinating animals’ life history—and especially in light of the escalating endangered status of a growing number of shark species.
Another change to make this cruel practice more palatable to the public is the misnomer of “catch and release,” now that US regulations require that more than 20 shark species in the Atlantic alone must be released including great whites and mako sharks because of their depleted populations. In reality, many of these sharks don’t survive the ordeal of being hooked and brought into the boat where and identification can be made and die soon after release. For species like hammerhead sharks, the mortality rate can exceed 90 percent.
In reality, these heartless contests are conducted simply for the profit of the organizers and fishing outfitters.
While some shark derbies have stopped, too many remain. If shark derbies are still occurring in your State, let government officials know that this cruel, inhumane and ecologically detrimental activities should be outlawed.
by Todd Steiner
