Resolution 2024-02
WHEREAS, for 450 million years sharks and their relatives have played a vital role in maintaining marine ecosystems by regulating the populations of prey species, preventing the collapse of lower levels in the marine food web, and controlling the overall health of the ecosystem; and
WHEREAS, sharks face threats from loss of habitat due to coastal development, pollution, and climate change—with the largest threats being overfishing for meat and fins, and being caught up in by-catch from commercial fishing; and
WHEREAS, shark populations are slow to recover from overfishing due to their low reproductive rates; and
WHEREAS, a 2021 study in Nature, “Half a century of global decline in oceanic sharks and rays”, found that, due to overfishing since 1950, 77% of sharks and rays are listed as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered and 18 species of pelagic sharks have plummeted by 71% since 1970; and
WHEREAS, Science reported in 2024 that global annual shark fishing mortality estimates increased from at least 76 to 80 million sharks between 2012 and 2019; and
WHEREAS, several threatened and endangered shark species such as the great and scalloped hammerhead sharks in the Gulf of Mexico are listed in the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red Book as critically endangered, and the smalltooth sawfish (another federally endangered shark relative) have declined due to overfishing and habitat loss; and
WHEREAS, shark species such as the Atlantic shortfin mako are overfished, and the widely distributed silky shark is globally listed by the IUCN as near threatened with populations in the Atlantic and Pacific considered vulnerable to excessive fishing pressure; and
WHEREAS, a number of shark species in United States waters such as the great white shark have begun to recover from previous overexploitation with the implementation of more protective conservation-based fisheries management practices beginning in the 1990s; and
WHEREAS, coastal areas serve as important feeding and nursery grounds, making these habitats crucial to the survival and recovery of many shark species; and
WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation ascribes to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation in policies and laws that restore and safeguard fish and wildlife species and their habitats through sound science and active management, including the model’s guiding principles of fair chase and rejection of wanton waste; and
WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation recognizes recreational anglers play an important role in the conservation of sharks through fish tagging programs and data collection in cooperation with fisheries management agencies; and
WHEREAS, management planning and decision-making for shark species should identify healthy sustainable population goals determined by the best available scientific information and economic consideration must be subject to meeting conservation goals; and
WHEREAS, sharks play a vital role in many indigenous communities, including the native Hawaiian communities where many consider the manō—or “shark”—a familial guardian or ancestor, and observe, protect, feed, and have had a relationship with manō for many generations because of the Hawaiian philosophy that there is no separation between people and nature.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, at its annual meeting assembled June 26-29, 2024, hereby supports the science-based management of shark populations and recovery of these populations; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges the President, Congress, and United States government agencies and respective fishery commissions engaged in marine fisheries management to promote shark conservation and population recovery both within the United States and its territorial waters, and international waters.