The Shark-ing Truth Under the Ocean

Although our main agenda is to raise awareness about the rapidly declining fish stock due to the detrimental effects of overfishing; there are these two other incredibly important issues facing our Australian waters that are often overlooked.

Culling of Sharks 

Half of the world’s shark species live in Australian waters and just like the pacific bluefin tuna, sharks are extremely important in maintaining the balance of our marine ecosystems.

Just like overfishing, human actions such as culling have threatened the number of sharks, who are usually slow growing and late to reach maturity.  This means that it takes sharks a long time to recover from over-exploitation.

According to the Australian Marine Conservation, 97% of sharks culled over a 12 month period were considered to be at some level of conservation risk.

An amazing campaign fighting for this cause is Cut the Cull.  Please show some support and find out more by visiting their blog and follow their Facebook and Twitter accounts.  To help ‘Cut the Cull’,  make sure to sign their petition here!

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Plastic Marine Pollution 

We’ve all seen that excruciating video with the straw stuck inside the poor turtle’s nostrils right?  Plastic pollution is another devastating issue that affects most marine species such as predators (Sharks) and prey (fish) in the food chain.

Unfortunately, over 10 million plastic straws are used in Australia every single day and there’s an estimated 150 million tonnes of plastic spread throughout the world’s ocean already, with a rate that is increasing every year.

What can we do? 

Biodegradable straws can decompose within 35 days of use, while plastic straws can take over 200 years.

By banning the use and distribution of plastic straws, we can set the stage for further legislative action against other disposable plastic and encourage manufacturers to seek more cost effective ways to produce eco-friendly plastic alternatives.

Under the Ocean is another amazing campaign against plastic pollution, support their  blog and follow their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Make this the final straw by signing the petition.

Together we can protect Australia’s marine biodiversity by taking these issues up to decision makers, along with doing our part to inform and educate ourselves and others around us!

– A.K #error404fish