Cristina Zenato

Cristina Zenato Instagram – There is a scary trend going on about sharks. It’s the uneducated and incorrect opinion that there are too many sharks, that they need regulation and culling, and that humans should be the ones completing this task.
It’s crucial to address the widespread misconception about shark populations also has the potential to lead us down a dangerous path. Unfortunately, some of these circles hold the power to influence rules and regulations, often for their own benefit, rather than for the well-being of sharks or the ocean.
Perhaps the first thing that requires regulation is “thousands of fishing boat charters.” We should have fewer fishing boat charters, fewer humans harvesting from the ocean at once, and less consumerism.
If we had fewer humans in shark territory, fishing what belongs to the sharks by right, we would have more fish and fewer encounters.
Scientific evidence is clear: shark populations are in a state of crisis. The IUCN red list, a reliable source, lists as much as 37% of sharks and rays as at risk of extinction. And this is based on monitoring only 28% of the different species and populations. These numbers cannot be ignored, and they underscore the urgent need for conservation efforts.
Sharks have been on this planet for 450 million years, humans of our species for 150.000 years; we took to fishing 40,000 years ago. I do not see how humans can be responsible for regulating such a long-term being who has survived 5 mass extinctions. The only regulations we end up doing are the ones that involve us. We cause the transfer of invasive species; then we assert ourselves as the saviors by eliminating said species; we cause the overfishing of other species; then we set up quotas and limits on how much we can take, not because it is too much, but because there isn’t enough.
The concept that we, as a dominating species, have the right to do whatever we wish with the rest of the planet is an ill and incorrect one. It’s the same one that has brought us to the situation we are in now, and it needs to change if we want to save not the planet but ourselves because, ultimately, the planet, without us, will do much better.
Video by @kewinlorenzen | Posted on 23/Aug/2024 18:10:36