A Blue View is a weekly perspective on the life aquatic, hosted by National Aquarium CEO John Racanelli.
From the smallest plants and animals invisible to the human eye to entire ecosystems, every living thing depends on and is intricately linked by water.
Tune in to 88.1 WYPR every Tuesday at 5:45 p.m. as John brings to the surface important issues and fascinating discoveries making waves in the world today.
November 28: Man, Eating Shark
Listen to John discuss the importance of protecting shark populations around the world from overfishing.
Can you guess what the following things have in common? Lightning; driving to the beach; dogs; falling coconuts...
Each one is more likely to kill you than a shark.
And yet, shark populations in all of our oceans are in danger of collapse, mainly due to overfishing. Commercial and recreational fishing kills up to 73 million sharks every year—including tens of millions solely for their fins. That’s roughly 200,000 sharks every day!
Here's what you can do to help save sharks:
- Just say no to shark fin soup! Don’t patronize restaurants or stores that serve or sell shark products. The Animal Welfare Institute has compiled a database of restaurants that have shark fin soup on the menu. You can also take the Shark Savers pledge to say you’re FINished with fins.
- Write a letter to your representatives, or sign a petition from our partners at Oceana, asking those with the power to change and enact laws to do so.
- If you’re a Maryland resident, support the bill that will be introduced in Maryland’s next legislative session that would ban the possession or distribution of shark fins in the state. This legislation will ensure that Maryland is not contributing to the supply and demand of shark fins.
- Avoid eating seafood that is caught in a way that brings in sharks as bycatch. Download Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch card for a list of ocean-friendly seafood and what to avoid.
- Spread the word. Share this information with your social networks by clicking on the icons at the top of this page. The more awareness we can generate about this issue, the better.
Stay tuned next week for our next A Blue View series!