Comment from Anonymous

As a diver and someone who loves fishing I completely disagree with this. Protecting our sharks is an absolute must. They keep our ocean's ecosystem balanced. These decisions of relaxing the Atlantic shark regulations shouldn't be made off of pressure from commercial fisherman and recreational sectors, who claim that localized shark concentrations represent an "overpopulation". Due to temperature changes in our ocean waters sharks have migrated more towards inner coastal waters and depletion of prey is a triggering factor. About 100 million sharks a year are killed that is an average of 270,000 per day. Less than 0.1% of sharks reach maturity after birth. Just because fisherman and recreational sectors are making claims of sharks causing depredation doesn't mean that our ocean is over populated. One thing is seeing and making a comment in SECTIONS of the globe and another thing is looking from the perspective that we have to take into the consideration of the science behind shark behaviors and populations globally not just global fishing sections. A couple of spots doesn't determine our whole waters. Fishermen split their time between both, but the majority of casual anglers fish closer to shore (inshore and nearshore); hence, warmer waters where more sharks will be there to migrate. Sharks eat an average of 0.5%-3% of their body weight and rarely eat everyday. About 30 species are vulnerable if not critically endangered, some including hammerheads (bonnetheads, scalloped hammerheads, great hammerheads), sand tiger shark, etc. Please reconsider protecting our ocean. Apex predators are our salvation to our ocean's ecosystem. Take into consideration what science is telling you and not give into the pressure that fisherman and recreational sectors are saying. Sections of the world shouldn't determine mass global problem that can increase endangerment to many sharks. That is their home, they are the ultimate apex predator that lived long before the dinosaurs and have kept our oceans health all this time. Nature itself took into consideration to keep everything balanced with sharks so why should a decision based off of pressure affect a species that has been surviving all these years providing an equal balance to our ocean's ecosystem. Please reconsider once again and do not let pressure be the reason to cause leniency on something that is already under control. Greed in the human nature and mind can cause great destruction.