I do not see the utility of trophy shark-fishing tournaments except for entertainment and thrill. I enjoy fishing, but I fish either to catch food, or when fishing recreationally I practice catch and release. Admittedly, shark-fishing tournaments can assert some utility by providing food resources to local food banks or allowing fishery observers to collect scientific data. However, even these altruistic actions do not appear to be worthy due to the risks associated with consuming shark meat and the possible inability of fishery scientists being able to gather large amounts of scientific data.

A commercial fishery observer that worked as a recreational fishery observer once expressed personal observations to me that recreational fishers are much harder to work with than commercial fishers. Furthermore, recreational fishers appear to be better organized and have more resources at their disposal than commercial fishers. As a result, they seem to be a strong lobbying force. In fact, commercial fishers use to note this distinction to me when I worked as a fisheries observer.

The Humane Society has been successful in making the acceptance of shark meat from shark fishing tournaments a public health issue. Consequently, food banks are starting to decline shark meat because of the high mercury levels that these top predators accumulate. From the NY Daily News:

With shark tournaments coming under protest from animal welfare advocates, Long Island’s only food bank has announced that it will no longer accept shark meat donated from sport fishing events.

Citing both the health risks of consuming mercury-laden shark meat and concern over the way the sharks are captured, Long Island Cares Inc. – The Harry Chapin Food Bank, said it will pass on the 6,000 pounds of shark meat it has accepted annually from Long Island shark tournaments, including the one by the Freeport Hudson Anglers….

Last week the Humane Society wrote Long Island Cares telling it that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency advises young children, pregnant women and nursing mothers to avoid eating shark meat because of its high levels of mercury.

The animal rights group also informed the food bank of its concerns about the long-term survival of the ocean’s top predator. Scientists with the IUCN (formerly the World Conservation Union) have found that 11 shark species are on the high-risk list, while five others are showing signs of decline.

Some of the more threatened species are the very ones that are most prized in New England shark tournaments. Over the past 30 years, the IUCN reported, the porbeagle has lost 90% of its population, the mako and thresher about 75%. The group classified the three kinds of shark as vulnerable and threatened with global extinction.

The Human Society and scientists are also concerned over conservation issues surrounding sharks. For example, some species of shark have a very low, minimum population doubling time. The Shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus), an important gamefish, takes at a minimum more than 14 years to double its population. Such low, minimum population doubling times coupled with overfishing and a lack of scientific data can result in extinct fisheries or species of fish. The lack of scientific data is largely due to the nature of sharks. From the NY Daily News:

Sharks are highly migratory and rarely surface, making them difficult to survey. Only in recent years have scientists begun to study closely the effects of exploitation, said Enric Cortés, a research biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service. One result has been general agreement among scientists that pelagic species have declined since the 1960s, when their meat increased in value, and the 1970s, when the movie “Jaws” touched off an international sport-fishing fury.

Dr. Cortés said that many species like threshers are slow to reproduce, making them more vulnerable to overfishing.

“The people in Destin looked at the science and the conduct of their tournaments and decided they could no longer justify it,” Dr. Grandy said. “I am hopeful that people of good will and integrity will take that position up and down the East Coast.”

Nevertheless, proponents of shark-fishing tournaments argue that these tournaments provide an opportunity for the public, especially children to observe sharks up close. However, opponents argue that any conservation gains through education are negated by the negative portrayal of sharks as man-eaters or monsters.

Additionally, recreational fishers often blame commercial fishers or industrial fishing for overfishing. Certainly, industrial fishing is to blame; nevertheless, the chronic woes of overfishing unfortunately affects all resource users. Therefore, as sharks become too rare, as with any species of plant or animal, the loss of a single individual may be too detrimental for the survival of the species.

See more Shark Week on The Conservation Report

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