Sharks. It's a Numbers Game.

Article Read time:
Projects: Global Shark Conservation
Sharks. It's a Numbers Game.

This month, during the 25th anniversary of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, people around the world are talking about the awe and beauty of sharks. But there's something quite serious going on with these top predators that people may not know: They are disappearing from our oceans, and fast.

Sharks are critically important. They have roamed our oceans since before the time of dinosaurs, but their long reign at the top of the ocean food chain may be ending. Industrial fishing over the past 60 years has drastically depleted shark populations. As key predators, their decline has risks for the health of entire ocean ecosystems. Now it's time to make sharks count.

Watch video:

America’s Overdose Crisis
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
Quick View
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
RELATED
Topics
Ocean Conservation
Projects
Global Shark Conservation

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

About a dozen people stand examining large blue bins full of whole fish in a warehouse. Some people are in green clothes, others in blue, and all wear ballcaps. A few hold clipboards.

Article

April 23, 2024 Reducing Risk Strengthens the Seafood Supply Chain
A worker in a seafood market dumps bright orange shrimp from a blue bin onto a bed of ice between a lot of other seafood laid out for sale. Other workers are visible in the background, as are the arms of shoppers placing orders from the other side of the ice bed.

Article

April 22, 2024 Seafood Industry Benefits From Greater Vessel Transparency
An aerial view of a vast wetland, with scattered vegetation visible on sandy islands.

Article

April 19, 2024 In Western Australia, a Conservation Model for the World

MORE FROM PEW

A presentation being given by a businesswoman to a group of participants at a business conference. Four Plan Features Can Boost 'Retirement Readiness'
An illustration of a couple holding hands walking away from an outline of houses behind them Pathways to Homeownership: Housing in America
A photograph of City Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia to Address Pressing Policy Challenges
A bright blue T-cell infected by HIV is engulfed by hundreds of yellow virions. Pew Researcher Seeks to Crack Code on HIV Cure
Composite image of modern city network communication concept

Learn the Basics of Broadband from Our Limited Series

Sign up for our four-week email course on Broadband Basics
Quick View

How does broadband internet reach our homes, phones, and tablets? What kind of infrastructure connects us all together? What are the major barriers to broadband access for American communities?

Pills illustration
Pills illustration

What Is Antibiotic Resistance—and How Can We Fight It?

Sign up for our four-week email series The Race Against Resistance.
Quick View
Pills illustration

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also known as “superbugs,” are a major threat to modern medicine. But how does resistance work, and what can we do to slow the spread? Read personal stories, expert accounts, and more for the answers to those questions in our four-week email series: Slowing Superbugs.