Last week, I summarized shark conservation laws and policies from around the world. In the wake of recent successes, several shark conservation NGOs are hoping to get similar laws passed in the Bahamas. Guy Harvey is heavily involved in this project, and explained why protecting sharks in the Bahamas is so important:
“These magnificent animals have been admired for years by divers visiting The Bahamas and revered by people around the world as one of the great wonders of the ocean.”
Eric Carey of the Bahamas National Trust is working closely with Dr. Harvey, and said:
“Due to a ban on longline fishing gear in the 1990s led by The Bahamas National Trust, Bahamian waters are one of the few places in the world with relatively healthy shark populations…The Bahamas is now one of the premier shark-watching destinations for divers, reeling in US$800 million over the past 20 years for the national economy, according to the Bahamas Diving Association.”
To help get this critical conservation legislation on the books, the Shark Research Institute is circulating a petition. It will be delivered by on-the-ground conservationists as part of a campaign to protect the sharks of the Bahamas. I encourage you to sign this petition, which can be found here.
The language found in the petition indicates that the proposed policy should protect sharks with a “ban on commercial shark fishing and the export and trade of shark products”.
As I’ve said many times, a petition alone won’t have much of an impact, but it can be a powerful tool if it is properly used as part of a larger conservation campaign. Please help the sharks of the Bahamas by signing this petition and telling your friends.
