Comment from Fish Feel

On behalf of our thousands of supporters, Fish Feel registers strong opposition to NOAA Fisheries proposal to increase Atlantic shark catch limits. Many shark species are struggling, some are already cricially endangered, and allowing people to keep three or four times more sharks is bound to exacerbate the difficulty. Allowing more sharks to be kept would also likely increase the amount of fishing, causing more sharks to be caught. Just because a shark is release does not mean they survive. Many do not, and the injury and trauma caused by capture is also detrimental to the health of the survivors and their populations. The proposed size limits means juvenile sharks could be caught/killed prior to their ability to reproduce, further risking the success of their populations. Sharks tend to take years to become sexually mature, they have lengthy gestation periods, and produce relatively few offspring, causing their populations to be very slow to recover. The populations of more than half of the shark species included in the proposal have yet to be fully assessed by NOAA. Without such scientific data it would be reckless to increase catch limits. Sharks are vital to healthy marine ecosystems. There is not a problem of too many sharks but rather there is a very serious problem of too much fishing. This, along with other factors, is decreasing fish populations, causing sharks to become more desperate for food. Instead of increasing shark catch limits, NOAA should be addressing this root problem including by decreasing the amount of fishing that is allowed. That is the reasonable, responsible thing to do.