A Conservation and Species Informant
100
Million sharks are killed every year by humans
71%
Decline in sharks and ray populations since 1970
391
Species of sharks and rays are found critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable
Ways to Help Sharks
Raise Awareness
Educating about sharks and their importance to the ocean ecosystem helps debunk the perception that they are only people-eating monsters but so much more. Awareness can change fear into empowering people to save sharks from extinction.
Use Your Voice
Fight to save sharks by supporting and pushing for legislation that condemns unsustainable overfishing, illegal fishing, the finning of sharks. Instead ask your government and corporations to protect shark habitats, opt for sustainable fishing and get rid of unnecessary shark products.
Be Informed
We have lost touch with where our food and products come from and what they actually contain. So, do your best to stay informed on what fish products might be mislabeled or unnecessarily contain shark. Research can help you support the most sustainable practices
Who We Are
Shield the Sharks is dedicated to the education of shark conservation and preservation. Our mission is to raise awareness of sharks' declining populations and how that would affect the balance of the ocean. We are raising awareness through social media to help combat fearful perceptions of sharks in order to save them!
Why Sharks?
The IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species update ran the alarm since over one third of shark and ray species are threatened with extinction now. Sharks are crucial to the ocean’s ecosystem, biodiversity and to our economies. Sharks keep fish populations from increasing too much, they spread important nutrients to coral reefs and around the ocean, even into the deep sea from the surface. This allows the ocean and marine life to thrive thus allowing us opportunities for healthy and sustainable fishing or tourism.
The project started with overcoming the fear of sharks by learning about them and debunking the age-old rhetoric that they are to be feared. The reality that they are more scared of us and are more threatened by human activity than we are of them made this an important topic to raise awareness for.
