It sounds unbelievable, but it is bitter reality. For many shark species, time has already run out. According to a North Atlantic study by Dalhousie University in Halifax, an average of 80% of all deep-sea sharks have disappeared over the last six years - hunted, caught, finned! And in this case, “disappear” means forever! This is because the extremely low reproduction rate of sharks combined with the immense pressure from the fishing industry to catch them doesn’t allow the populations any chance to regenerate or even to enjoy a brief respite.
An estimated 200 million sharks are killed worldwide a year – 500,000 every day – and most of these are killed in an indescribably cruel fashion. This is a dramatic overexploitation of shark populations and a form of tampering with the largest ecosystem of the world that can never be undone – with far-reaching and dramatic consequences for our children and our children’s children.
If we don’t act now, the seas will die off within just a few decades and with them, 70% of the means for generating oxygen on our planet.
We must act immediately and we need an efficient and vigorous lobby for the sharks and the marine habitat.
We must act immediately and we need an efficient and vigorous lobby for the sharks and the marine habitat.
The volunteer organization SHARKPROJECT is fighting on the very frontlines against the destruction of the seas and the extermination of sharks. Founded in 2002 by twelve people committed to protection of the seas, today the organization is one of the most active and largest shark protection organizations worldwide. At present, it has some 200 associates active internationally. All of them work on a volunteer basis for the protection of marine animals and the marine ecosystem. This is the natural outcome of the continuing application of the organization’s founding motto: “All of the money for the animals, only what is absolutely necessary for administration!” Because of this, SHARKPROJECT does not have permanent employees, nor does it pay compensation. Even a vast majority of the fixed costs such as phone, rent, etc. are paid for by the members’ own donations.
This volunteer-based commitment to the protection of sharks and the marine ecosystem has been internationally recognized on multiple occasions. For example, the organization received the “Red Sea Defender” award from the Egyptian government, was recognized as a "Landmark in the Land of Ideas" by the President of Germany, and was recently awarded the Donation Seal of Approval from the Central Institute for Social Concerns (DZI) in Germany for especially commendable organizations.
And SHARKPROJECT is continuing to expand. SHARKPROJECT International e.V. was founded in 2008, an efficient umbrella organization for its own associations and embassies in various countries. Its objective is to become even more active and efficient in particular priority nations. The first step of this includes Germany, Switzerland, Austria, South Africa, Poland, the Maldives, and French Polynesia. Other staging grounds are in preparation.
This website will provide you with an overview of our work. It includes extensive information on the sharks' situation and that of their habitat.
In many cases, time has already run out.
Please help us to help them!
Gerhard Wegner
Founding Member and President of SHARKPROJECT International
| 6.4.2008 | Print |