Sharks are also disappearing

2003/03/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Arrantza
• Ozeanografia

In the last 8-15 years the number of sharks living in the Atlantic has dropped by half. Researchers at the University of Dalhousie have studied nine species of sharks from the North-West Atlantic and have detected a 50% drop in all of them. Among the species analyzed are the white shark, the hammerfish and the blue shark.

According to the researchers, this decline is due to overfishing, whose birth rate is not enough to replace catches. However, special attention has been given to conservation programmes, as conservation efforts of one species in many cases lead to the fishing of another. Therefore, for an appropriate conservation program, all species that inhabit around sharks must be taken into account.