/ ©: Simon Buxton / WWF-Canon

Keep a blue shark off the hook

The greatest threat to the majestic blue shark is bycatch – accidental capture in fishing gear. The continuing global consumer demand for shark fins also threatens the future of this graceful species.

By keeping a blue shark off the hook, you will be helping to protect blue sharks and other marine species at risk from bycatch.

Gifts for a Living Planet – Make Them Smile!
  • Give a gift that makes a real difference.
  • Receive a personalized certificate that shows you care.
  • Help find solutions to address bycatch.
  • Make someone's day with an original and interesting gif

Give this gift

Buy this gift right now and for only $75 you'll help to find solutions to one of the major conservation concerns facing many marine species globally -- bycatch. Every year, tens of thousands to millions of animals are caught when people are fishing for something else – often these animals are dead and thrown back as they’re not wanted. This unsustainable practice has led to the decline of many species of sharks, whales and sea turtles.

One of the major causes of death of the North Atlantic right whale is entanglement in fishing gear – one of the reasons we only have about 450 left in the wild. Globally, most shark populations have declined 70-90% - primarily due to bycatch.

Bycatch is a conservation problem of staggering global and regional significance because it is:

  • Widespread
  • Wasteful
  • Driving species to extinction
  • Inhibiting recovery of species at risk
  • Preventing progress toward sustainable fisheries
     
WWF is working with fishermen, scientists and the government to better understand the issue and find solutions, like:

  • Developing best handling and release practices so that animals caught can be released safely.
  • Developing and testing gear modifications that could be used to reduce shark bycatch and right whale entanglements.
     
With your gift, you'll help improve species conservation and survival measures in Atlantic Canadian waters. And help address the issue of bycatch!