SOS Joins WWF, WildAid and Others to Lobby
for Better Protection of Dusky Sharks

Article by Support Our Sharks (17 July 2014)

Shark PhotoIn early 2013, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) submitted petitions to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to list the Northwest Atlantic populations of dusky shark and great hammerhead shark as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Later that year, the NMFS concluded that a listing may be warranted for both NW Atlantic and global populations of dusky and great hammerhead sharks, and has since been conducting status reviews for each species to decide whether to formally propose a listing.

Recently, however, the NMFS made the disappointing decision not to list the Great Hammerhead, despite this species being listed as “Endangered” by the IUCN and listed on appendix II of CITES.

Click here to view a dusky shark fact sheet prepared by the NRDC

While awaiting the NMFS's decision on dusky sharks, Support Our Sharks has joined forces with WWF, WildAid and others to encourage their listing. Thanks to the NRDC's hard work at bringing some of the world’s top conservation groups together to lobby for better protection, we are hopeful for a positive outcome for dusky sharks.

Dr Ryan Kempster, Founder of Support Our Sharks, said: "Dusky sharks are one of the slowest growing species of shark, making them extremely vulnerable to even a small amount of fishing pressure. Listing this species as ‘Threatened’ on the Endangered Species Act will go a long way to help reduce threats to this species and increase their abundance in the North West Atlantic".

Click below to view our joint submission to the NMFS.

Joint Letter to NMFS to List Dusky Sharks

 

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