Shark attacks often receive significant press coverage, but statistics show they are extraordinarily rare: in 2008, there were 59 unprovoked shark attacks worldwide, according to a survey by the University of Florida.
Nonetheless, Debbie Salamone has every reason to hold a grudge against sharks. In 2004, she was swimming at a beach in Florida when a shark bit down on her foot, severing her achilles tendon. Pew Environment Group Paul De Gelder, an Australian Navy diver who lost a hand and leg to a shark attack, is in New York City to advocate for shark conservation.
Six years later, Ms. Salamone and nine other shark attack survivors from six countries are petitioning the United Nations to protect the very species that tried to make meals out of them. Shark populations worldwide are under severe pressure from industrial fishing, with 30 percent of shark and ray species assessed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature listed as threatened or near-threatened.
An estimated 73 million sharks are killed every year for their fins, which are used to make shark fin soup, and Asian delicacy. Most of these sharks are 'finned' alive, then dumped back into the ocean to drown or bleed to death.
The United Nations General Assembly deliberates annually on policies and regional and international agreements on how to sustainably manage fisheries. Ocean conservation groups, including Pew, are urging nations to strengthen protections for shark species worldwide. This fall, shark advocates will press delegates to implement a strong management plan for sharks that would prohibit catching threatened or near-threatened shark species and en the practice of shark finning.
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