Saving the ocean, one shark at a time

The fight goes on against over-fishing and further reductions in populations for species of sharks that get caught up in industrial harvests.

The Oceanic White Tip shark is more than a symbol of a local beer brand, it’s in a vulnerable state, having seen its population drop 99 per cent in and near the Gulf of Mexico in forty years, according to one study.

The Guy Harvey Research Institute has set up a program to tag sharks and marlins, allowing researchers to study movements in real time for species with a range that stretches almost anywhere in the Earth’s oceans.

“If we knew exactly where they were breeding, maybe, or where they spend a lot of their time, you could focus your energy there. The ocean is such a large place that unfortunately you can’t protect everywhere, so if you could find a place that is particularly important to that species, maybe if you focus your energy there. You could take a dent and try and get the population back up,” said Alexandra Prebble, from the Guy Harvey Research Institute.

Ms. Prebble says the discovery of sharks’ breeding grounds can determine if they’re at risk of being caught up in industrial fishing at an especially vulnerable time.