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Article: Dear EarthTalk: What is the status of sharks around the world?(EARTH TALK)
- Article from:
- EarthTalk: Questions & Answers About Our Environment. A Weekly Column
- Article date:
- January 27, 2008
- Author:
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Dear EarthTalk: What is the status of sharks around the world? I see occasional stories about sharks attacking humans, but on balance aren't we a lot more brutal to them then they are to us?
--Pam Hitschler, Radnor, PA
It's true that humans do a lot more damage to shark populations than vice versa. Marine biologists report that sharks are in rapid decline around the world. In the North Atlantic Ocean, shark populations have declined more than 50 percent over the past 20 years alone, with some species now nearing extinction.
Experts see the primary cause as overfishing, which depletes sharks as well as their prey. Sharks are especially vulnerable ...