David Shiffman

New paper: feeding ecology of South Florida sharks

March 29, 2019April 1, 2019 David Shiffman

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We have a new paper out today in the journal Aquatic Ecology! Read it here, open access copy here. This is the last paper from my Ph.D. dissertation, and coauthors include my Ph.D. advisor Dr. Neil Hammerschlag, Ph.D. committee member Dr. Mike Heithaus, and colleague Dr. Les Kaufman. It’s called “Intraspecific Differences in Relative Isotopic Niche Area and Overlap of Co-occurring Sharks,” which I think rolls right off the tongue and would make a pretty sweet band name. This research was crowdfunded by the SciFund challenge a few years ago, so thanks again for your support! I want to tell you a little bit about what we did and what we found!

Orca protection and vanishing Arctic lakes: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, December 20th, 2018

December 20, 2018December 20, 2018 David Shiffman

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Cuttings (short and sweet): Follow YouTube science communicator Kurtis Baute on twitter! Ottawa designates two new areas as critical habitat for killer whales in B.C. waters. CHEK news. Spoils (long reads and deep dives): Arctic lakes are vanishing by the hundreds. By Chelsea Harvey, for Scientific American. Even fish get the bends. By Anna Saleh, … Read More “Orca protection and vanishing Arctic lakes: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, December 20th, 2018” »

Amazing fish eyes, the real cost of halibut, and protecting local species: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, December 13, 2018

December 13, 2018December 13, 2018 David Shiffman

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Cuttings (short and sweet): Follow UBC’s wildlife conservation economics lab on twitter! The Deep-Sea Fish with the Telescopic Tubular Eyes. By Craig McClain, for Deep Sea News. How to take action to help endangered species near you. A Revelator News Podcast by John Platt. Spoils (long reads and deep dives): Why does halibut cost so … Read More “Amazing fish eyes, the real cost of halibut, and protecting local species: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, December 13, 2018” »

Florida releases draft land-based shark fishing regulations

December 11, 2018December 13, 2018 David Shiffman 2 Comments

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After months of expert and public consultation, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has announced the draft text of new regulations that will govern land-based shark fishing. It’s mostly very good news that directly addresses most of our concerns!

A review of the problem
Land-based anglers in Florida (those who fish from beaches, docks, and piers) catch large numbers of threatened, protected species, handling them in needlessly cruel ways that likely result in mortality or permanent injury. Anglers are aware that what they’re doing causes harm to certain species and violates some existing regulations. Hammerhead sharks in particular are extremely physiologically vulnerable and need to be released much faster than they are currently being released or else they will very likely die.

(Learn more: see my paper on this subject, my blog post summarizing that paper, an open letter calling for action, an op-ed I wrote about this, a review of the existing rules and how they’re regularly violated, and a years-old blog post describing one problematic incident with land-based shark fishing)

Dive bombing birds, octopus intelligence, and a red tide update: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, December 6, 2018

December 6, 2018 David Shiffman

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Cuttings (short and sweet): Follow Joe Cunningham, a marine engineer who was just elected to Congress, on twitter! The dive bombing birds of Newfoundland. By Craig McClain, for Deep Sea News How much does it cost to save a species? Less than you think! By Erik Vance, for the last word on nothing. Spoils (long … Read More “Dive bombing birds, octopus intelligence, and a red tide update: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, December 6, 2018” »

Canada announced new marine protected area standards. Here’s how science and conservation professionals reacted.

October 22, 2018 David Shiffman

Science

Recently, the Canadian government released the Final Report of the National Advisory Panel on Marine Protected Area Standards. This report is a set of guidelines and goals for the creation of new marine protected areas in Canada, and comes as Canada is hoping to greatly increase the number and quality of MPAs. I reached out to MPA experts and environmental nonprofits to ask what they think.

Barndoor skates, once a textbook example of overfishing, have recovered enough to allow fishing

October 19, 2018October 19, 2018 David Shiffman

Science

Barndoor skates were once thought to be so overfished that a highly-publicized paper from 1998 noted that they had been “driven to near extinction without anyone noticing.” One of the largest skates, barndoor skates can reach over 5 feet in wingspan, which is large enough that their diet includes small sharks like spiny dogfish; for a skate, that’s about as close as it gets to charismatic megafauna!

Recently, NOAA Fisheries announced that Barndoor skate populations off the Northeastern United States had finally recovered enough that fishing for them could resume. This move comes after a 2009 NOAA Fisheries report showed that the species had begun to recover enough that they could be removed from the species of concern list, though they remained protected at the time. “This is good news,” Mike Ruccio, a Supervisory Fishery Policy Analyst for NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, told me. “Rebuilding overfished stocks is one of the cornerstones of the US domestic policy on fisheries.”

Ancient fish farming and popular invasive species: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, October 18th 2018

October 18, 2018 David Shiffman

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Cuttings (short and sweet): Follow everyone in this amazing thread of twitter wildlife biologists started by David Steen. Ancient Egyptians farmed fish thousands of years ago. By the New Arab. This is a neat story about a new archaeological study, which tells us about ancient humans’ relationship with the sea. Fun fish festivals around the … Read More “Ancient fish farming and popular invasive species: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, October 18th 2018” »

Banning Arctic fishing and protecting public beach access: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, October 4th, 2018

October 4, 2018 David Shiffman

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Cuttings (short and sweet): Follow fisheries biologist Justin Rizzari on twitter! Commercial fishing banned across much of the Arctic. By Fiona Harvey, for the Guardian. Slavery with your seafood. By the Save Our Seas Foundation blog. The top fish books for kids. By Abigail Lynch, for the Fisheries Blog. Spoils (long reads and deep dives): … Read More “Banning Arctic fishing and protecting public beach access: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, October 4th, 2018” »

Dear Shark Man, are the relative sizes of sharks in the “baby shark” dance scientifically accurate?

October 3, 2018October 3, 2018 David Shiffman

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Welcome to Dear Shark Man, an advice column inspired by a ridiculous e-mail I received. You can send your questions to me via twitter (@WhySharksMatter) or e-mail (WhySharksMatter at gmail). Dear Shark Man, Are Daddy and Grandpa sharks really morphologically bigger than Mommy and Grandma sharks? Sincerely, Addicted to “Baby Shark” in Arizona Dear Addicted, Thank you … Read More “Dear Shark Man, are the relative sizes of sharks in the “baby shark” dance scientifically accurate?” »