PROTECT SHARKS FROM BYCATCH!
Off the coast of Southern California, sharks – including young great white sharks, soupfin sharks, and smoothhound sharks – are being caught and killed in fishing nets, along with other animals like sea lions, seabirds, and recreationally important fish species.
While sharks are a top predator, they produce very few offspring. In fact, it’s estimated that each adult female great white shark will give birth to a few pups every two years. But sharks – specifically the pups – are extremely susceptible to human caused threats like being entangled in fishing gear.
One of their biggest threats off California’s coast is being caught, injured, and killed in set gillnets, which are mile-long fishing nets that are anchored to the sea floor like ginormous fences that catch everything in their path. Join us and take action to save sharks and other animals from being killed in these deadly fishing nets.
petition letter
Dear Governor Newsom and Fish and Game Commissioners:
As apex predators, sharks play an integral role in maintaining healthy oceans. But we are losing sharks globally. And off California, sharks are under threat from the halibut and white seabass set gillnet fishery which entangles more than 15 species of sharks. I write urging you to address the impacts of mile-long set gillnets on sharks and other ocean animals to ensure that the unique ocean ecosystem off California can continue to thrive into the future.
Sharks — like skates and rays that are also caught in this fishery — grow slowly, produce few young, and are vulnerable to overfishing. Seventy-three percent of sharks, skates, and rays caught in California’s set gillnet fishery are tossed overboard — many already dead or dying. The skeletons of these animals consist of cartilage, not bone, which means they are easily bruised and injured, so even animals that are released alive may die later. Moreover, the population status for most of these species has not been assessed, which elevates my concern over the true impact of this fishery.
These nearly invisible nets aren’t just a threat to sharks, rays, and skates. Whales, sea lions, and many ecologically and recreationally important fish species are susceptible to entanglement, injury, and death. In total, more than 125 different species of ocean animals are caught in the net’s clutches.
In many respects, California is a world leader when it comes to addressing ocean health and protecting marine biodiversity. However, one of the most harmful and indiscriminate fishing methods in the country is still being allowed in ocean waters off Southern California including the Channel Islands — a globally important haven for biodiversity often referred to as “the Galapagos of North America.”
I appreciate the Commission’s past actions to address bycatch in this destructive gear by prohibiting these nets in central coast waters as well as your current prioritization to evaluate ongoing bycatch in the set gillnet fishery off Southern California. I urge you to take action to reduce bycatch in this fishery to protect sharks and the many other ocean animals that thrive in the waters off Southern California, making it a globally significant ocean ecosystem.
Sincerely, {user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}