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While we humans have a seemingly harmless appearance compared with large ocean predators, it is us who are the real voracious killers. Sharks are powerful and fascinating animals who have prowled the seas for more than 400 million years (far before even the dinosaurs). But they are now being killed-off in unprecedented numbers as a result of our global appetite for seafood. They are killed as non-targeted “by-catch” in commercial fishing operations, in the shark fin trade, and from recreational fishing. Marine scientists at Dalhousie University and elsewhere have issued dire warnings that we are killing approximately 100 million sharks per year (more than 10,000 per hour). They estimate that only 10% of large predatory fish remain, which is expected to have severe and cascading negative effects for global marine ecosystems. The good news is that we humans have no biological need to eat any seafood (or any other animal foods for that matter). So, we can end this onslaught today, simply by going vegan and leaving animal foods (including fish) off our plates for good. Using animals for food (both land and marine animals) is an irresponsibly unsustainable ecological disaster on many fronts, this being just one. Please, if you haven’t done so already, familiarize yourself with these urgent issues and go vegan. |