Cat Gordon, Senior Conservation Officer
Our projects were mainly established in the UK, the Great Egg Case Hunt. Especially, it was launched from a chance find on a beach in Devon 20 years ago, so we’re celebrating 20th anniversary of that this year. But we get records from all around the world now.
Reuben, SUPBOARDER Magazine
What would you do with that data? If you count how many egg cases do you find in that location, what type of egg case?
Cat Gordon:
Yeah, it’s a really good indicator of species diversity. So depending on the shapes, the sizes, the different features of an egg case, you can tell which species laid it. So within the British Isles, there’s around 13 species that you might get washed up, some more common than others. Some you’d find all the way around the coastline, others you have to be in very specific areas to find them. But we can look at what species there are. So by finding an egg case, you can identify, okay, we know that a flapper skate was in that region and was laying fairly nearby. If we can get records from those that are seen developing underwater from divers, paddle borders, snorkelers, then we can help connect where the egg cases wash up on the beach with where the actual egg laying grounds are.
Reuben, SUPBOARDER Magazine
Wow. So us as paddleboarders, we could actually potentially see an egg case on the water? It’s entangled on seaweed?
Cat Gordon:
Yeah, a species, so the two of the cat sharks, the nurse hound and the small-spotted cat shark, they’ve got tendrils on each end which they use to curl them around seaweed. The female will swim around and around the seaweed, and it would tie it on, almost like string onto the seaweed. And those ones can be laid in shallow waters, so you can quite often see those on low tides. You see them attached to the seaweed. The skate ones are on the seabed, so probably less likely to see those ones whilst paddle boarding.
Reuben, SUPBOARDER Magazine:
So, really every time somebody goes paddleboarding at the beach, as they’re pumping up their inflatable paddleboard or they’re going… They should just keep an eye on the seaweed lines?
Cat Gordon:
Yeah, exactly. It’s the power of collective action as well. One person picking up one egg case might not tell us much other than this species was nearby at some point in the fairly recent past. But if everyone picked up an egg case, if everyone recorded, we’d get a much better picture of relative abundance or diversity, species presence, and then we can start looking at different seasonal trends over time as well and see what’s happening through the years.
Reuben, SUPBOARDER Magazine
If we’re lucky enough to be paddleboarding and we see a basking shark in the British Isles, is that the most common one, or down in Cornwall? How should we interact with that experience of seeing that shark?
Cat Gordon:
We’ve got a code of conduct that we developed for water users, so that covers swimmers, divers, those on motorised vehicles as well as kayaks and paddleboarders as well. So the key thing is to keep your distance, don’t paddle towards it, don’t try and go in front of the direction of travel in case it spooks it and disturbs it. Generally, if they’re at the surface, they’re feeding, so they’ll probably just carry on feeding as they were and won’t be too bothered. But as long as you just keep a healthy distance and respect their space and try not to disturb them, they are quite often called gentle giants, but they are capable of breaching. So they can come clean out the water. So it’s just better to keep a distance and leave them to carry on feeding. And you’ll quite often find that they’re curious anyway, and they might swim past you and come closer.
But again, if you’ve seen one, you can report that sighting back to us so we can have a look at seasonal trends and what’s happening there. We’d previously had an app that was just for the Great Egg Case Hunt. So we’ve wrapped up that one, and now we’ve got one that covers all of our citizen science projects. So whether you’ve seen a basking shark fin, whether you’ve found an egg case on the beach, if you’ve seen a shark entangled in netting, you can go onto our app and you can submit your sighting through that. Anytime you submit a sighting, you get a shark reward card as well, so you get a little, like with your Pokemon cards, you get a card. It ranges from bronze, silver or gold, that you can try and find, just to try and encourage you to get out and find more egg cases and record your shark sightings. Free to download on both Google Play Store and Apple Store as well.
Reuben, SUPBOARDER Magazine:
Fantastic. So it definitely should be in every paddleboarder’s kit bags.
Cat Gordon:
Yeah, definitely get it downloaded.
Dr. Conor John, The Shark Trust
So the oceanic species would be classed as species that spend a lot of their time or a large amount of time in the open ocean, so these are the oceans beyond national waters in the high seas. A recent paper found that 24 of the 31 oceanic species that are looked at out of sharks and rays were in one of the threatened classes of the IUCN Red List, which means that basically, they’re not doing so great. In comparison, back in the 1970s, there were only five on the Red List, on the threatened list.
So it’s really changed. Obviously, we know now that the number of species has increased because we’ve done more research and found there are more species, and the monitor has increased, but we have a better idea of the kind of situation.
So Oceanic 31 sort of sprung from that, and also from the need to engage people in new and interesting ways. I basically just went off and contacted loads and loads of artists, and asked them to create and donate a piece focused on one of 31 oceanic species, which is how we got lots of artists to create and donate some amazing pieces.
So we have some pieces here now. So this is by Loreto Vila, Inked by the Ocean. So she did a lovely, dusky chart for us using a method called stippling. And then we’ve also got a digital artist, he’s actually an animator, called Will Rose and he does a lot of animation work for a series called Hey Duggee, which is a kid show, and he did an amazing blue shark. And then these pieces, so we’re going to have 31 in total, which are going to be brought together in June, and then they’re going to go on exhibition tour around the UK-
Reuben, SUPBOARDER Magazine
So people get a chance to see them in the flesh.
Dr. Conner John:
People are going to get a chance to go see them in the flesh. Some of them are much bigger. So there’s a piece by a guy called ATM, who’s a street artist. He’s done a piece on plywood board, which is a meter and a half by two and a half meters. So a little bit big to fit here. So they’ll get to go and see them, we’re also going to have an online exhibition as well, and that’ll also come with interpretation in the form of videos, and we’ve got some really exciting panels which will explore the Oceanic 31 species, do a deep dive on some of the species and also some of the reasons that we need to help support and protect these amazing species.
But also, I think there’s been a recent climate positivity and this positive shift in how we talk about climate issues and conservation issues. So Oceanic 31 spun from that to put a positive light and to show off and really show that sharks are amazing and these species are really awesome, that’s why we need to protect them. And that’s quite a different tact, I think, to what things used to be in the kind of 1990s and early noughties. Previously, we were battling this idea that sharks are dangerous and sharks are killers, and I think the organisations can spend a lot of time trying to myth bust and trying to fight those sort of things. So putting out things like, toasters kill more people than sharks, which they do, but you are still also saying sharks are killers, whereas in reality, the number of human shark interactions are so small, that it’s not worth wasting our time, really. We’d rather just show that these species are awesome and they’re amazing, and help people to get really excited and interested in them. And that will hopefully then shift people into being more excited.
Ali Hood, Director of Conservation
People often ask us, so why is shark conservation important? And I really don’t think there’s one definitive answer for this, it really depends on the context, on the perspective in which you are at that time. A stock answer would be, because sharks and their relatives are really vital for the health of the marine ecosystem. Another more fundamental one would be that we need to maintain species diversity, but we should also consider issues like people’s passion and love for sharks, rays, for marine wildlife – is really important, is important to wellbeing and their health and wellbeing.
But then there’s also the point of the economics associated with sharks and rays. So the socioeconomics associated with shark fishing, well-managed shark fishing practices, with ecotourism activities can actually provide some of the most tangible arguments for effective conservation management. The other side is that there are certain species of sharks under well managed conditions that can support a sustainable fishery. And that’s important with respect food security in certain areas of the world, and is realistic. Sharks skates and rays are quarters by catching fisheries. A number of those species need the utmost level of protection, but others under appropriate science-based management, are suitable for retention, and therefore can contribute to the economies of fisheries both large and small.
Reuben, SUPBOARDER Magazine
So this is really a big thing to bring across. You’re not there to stop people fishing shop, you just want them to fish responsibly.
Ali Hood :
We want to see sharks, skates and rays fished at a sustainable level. So for some, that means no retention. There are certain species whose populations have already declined to such levels, that the only thing we can do at this time is alleviate as much pressure as possible. And that’s not as simple as just saying don’t catch them, because unfortunately, they will still be caught. So you need other measures to add to that. So what we call bycatch mitigation. So avoidance or a change in handling. If we can encourage the industry, the fishing industry, to handle sharks and rays in a different manner, there may be a higher chance of their survival when they’re released. And there’s very long-lived species, the more sharks, particularly these vulnerable species that we can see back in the environment in a fit and healthy state, the better it is for that population growth and rebuilding.
Reuben, SUPBOARDER Magazine :
And you are working very much at a high level of governments, talking from getting them to realise how important this all is. What shark are you really trying to look out for at the moment? Because you obviously can’t cover every single shark, because there’s only so many people, so many hours in a day.
Ali Hood :
Well, we’d love to cover every species, and we do try to be as flexible as we can. And the great thing about our work at The Shark Trust is that we work on public engagement through to this high level policy that you’re talking about. And here, we work at that science policy interface, ensuring that the best available data and information is provided in a comprehensible fashion to decision makers, so that we’re informing that decision process. And over the 25 years that The Shark Trust has been operating, we’ve contributed to shark finning regulation, to driving forward effective fisheries management, and that’s not just the adoption, but also the implementation and compliance, and seeking that protection for some of the most vulnerable species.
And in recent years, our focus, particularly in Atlantic Waters, has been on Blue Shark and on Short Fin Mako. Now that’s two species that are caught in the same fisheries but have very, very different life history strategies. And as a result, the need for very different management. Blue shark, a species that could be fished sustainably under the right level of management, and working with our partners at The Shark League, we’ve managed to secure international management throughout the Atlantic. So catch limits for Blue Sharks, which is a really positive step forward in their management. For Short Fin Mako, a different story. This is a population who’s declined to such a level, that the only way forward in the North Atlantic was to see a prohibition on retention. So that’s a ban on the fishing for this species. And we managed to secure this two years ago. This is a really positive step forward, and now we need to see that by catch avoidance, we need to see vessels reducing the mortality and the pressure on that population.
And just last year, at the end of 2022, we secured the first ever catch limits quota for Short Fin Mako in the South Atlantic. So, progress can be slow, and it takes perseverance and determination amongst our wider community, but we are making results, and we are ensuring that the science is coming in to support that decision making.
Reuben, SUPBOARDER Magazine :
That’s fantastic. And just for the people who are unaware how these fish are accidentally caught, is it with long lines or is it with nets? What’s the majority?
Ali Hood :
There’s all sorts of different gear types out there. The fisheries that we’re looking at in the Atlantic are predominantly long lines, but there’s also nets. In coastal waters, you might have trawling activities. It really depends. So the fishing industry is very diverse, the gears that they use are very diverse, and you will find shark bycatch and skate and ray bycatch in most of those fisheries. It all depends on the scale, and in terms of the shark, depends on whether that shark is then wanted for commercial sale or if they’re then released again as discards.
But in the Atlantic and these large high seas fisheries who are primarily focused on tuna and swordfish, you see a very high level of shark bycatch there. And it’s working with those large high seas management bodies that we have a particular focus at the moment.
Reuben, SUPBOARDER Magazine:
And obviously, you at The Shark Trust, you’re not just – you’re a global reach, but that’s with a lot of help from collaborators and people around the world, isn’t it?
Ali Hood :
Absolutely. So the modest size of The Shark Trust, our reach is very much disproportionate to that. And yes, this comes down to collaboration with trusted partners, and we are really, really fortunate that in many countries around the world, we have colleagues, partners, organisations that we can work with to increase everybody’s reach, not just The Shark Trust, but the science-based conservation community. Working together, we can be more effective in terms of our lobbying, our engagement, the pressure that we can put onto decision makers to make change for sharks, skates and rays. And that community is hugely valuable to us. Plus it enables us to work with real specialists, maybe specialists in understanding how a particular country works or a particular issue works, whether that’s communication or policy or otherwise. And yeah, we’re always grateful to that. It’s a really important asset that enables us to deliver way beyond our size.
Paul Cox, the CEO of the Shark Trust.
So one of the things we’re really focused on at the minute is, we just launched a new campaign called The Big Shark Pledge. This campaign is essentially focusing on oceanic sharks. So there’s basically a Griff about 31 species, some of the best known sharks that we’ve got, those big charismatic sharks which move in and out of national waters and into international waters. And when they go into international waters, they face particular threat from large fisheries. So this group of 31 species: big report came out a couple years ago that, because of that overfishing, 75% of that group are considered to be threatened with extinction and their populations have declined by 71% in my lifetime. So only 30% as many as they were when I was born.
So this is obviously something that we really want to focus on. It fits in with the other work that we’ve been doing, we’ve been doing work on the Mako and the Blue Sharks. And so, essentially what we’re going to do is take that work that we’ve been so successful with and go further and faster. And I think the other thing is really shining that light on overfishing because we hear a lot about climate change, we hear about plastic pollution, but I think we hear a little bit less about overfishing and overfishing is having a massive impact. And relatively speaking, it’s a solvable issue, right? All you need to do is create the restrictions of the legislations – to push fishing into a sustainable practice, and then theoretically, populations can start to recover.
Reuben, SUPBOARDER Magazine :
And you have already seen it recovery of populations, haven’t you?
Paul Cox :
So yeah, there’s a few populations. The thing with sharks is, they’re long-lived and slow growing, so it takes a long time for their populations to recover. But there are few examples around the place where heavy protection has then led to, populations start to recover. So the basking shop around the UK is an example where, for the last 25 years, there’s been a really heavy kind of level of protection on those. And now there are signs, – just signs – that those populations around the UK are starting to bounce back a bit. And White Sharks as well down the east coast of the United States, their populations have started to rebound a little bit after years of being put under pressure. So there are signs that it can happen, there are these hope spots around there, but still on the whole, shark fisheries are probably not being taken as seriously as they need to be.
Reuben, SUPBOARDER Magazine:
Because we have that huge amount of water around the world, the sharks are a major part of our ecosystem in that. And if they’re just going to be fished, it’s going to have a huge after effect to all these.
Paul Cox:
Definitely, that’s thing. And it’s really uncertain what that impact is. But this goes without saying, that if you remove these very important species that have been there for hundreds of millions of years, something is going to go wrong.
Reuben, SUPBOARDER Magazine:
So that pledge you’re bringing in, what can the public do and how can they be involved in that? Sharing it, just having more awareness about sharks?
Paul Cox:
It’s a bit of both. So the thing is, with the kind of work that we need to do on high seas fisheries is, that there are moments where everything’s happening in the background or maybe evidence is being gathered or there’s stock assessments or whatever. And then there are moments when we need pressure to be placed on policy makers to make particular decisions. And sometimes, when those moments come along, you wish that you had an audience of people ready to go, so that’s what the Big Shark Pledge is aiming to do, is to bring together a community.
And so it’s at its simplest, it’s a matter of going onto the bigsharkpledge.org website and clicking on the pledge. And that gives us essentially a contact with the pledger, and then when we need them, we’ll be able to contact them, keep them updated on what’s going on. But say right now, you can do something or whether that’s right into your elected representative or putting a tweet out or sharing it with other people. So it’s a kind of long term pledge, and then there’ll be some short term actions along the way. Sort of petition plus, so just to keep in touch.
Reuben, SUPBOARDER Magazine:
Even if people just get on that place and just sign up-
Paul Cox:
Even that. And if that’s all they ever do, that’s great because then we’ve got the sheer numbers of people that we can say this many people support what we’re trying to do.
Reuben, SUPBOARDER Magazine:
And I think that’s the thing for paddle boarders is we’re on the ocean, we’re out in the environment, such a great way to spot egg cases, pumping up boards on the beach, or even lucky enough to see them in the water, which should be amazing, which is definitely something I’m going to try to do this summer. Paddle boarding is such a great way of just seeing it. And also now SHARK SUPs, they’ve partnered up with you a few years ago, very much an awareness of helping promote you guys, but now they’re actually giving you some money, which is obviously going to help.
Paul Cox :
Yeah, yeah. That kind of donations from all quarters are really useful. And the great thing is, it gives us the type of money that we can get from businesses that we partner with or from donations or from people doing runs and fundraising for us, all that kind… And memberships or subscriptions – all that money, it’s unrestricted money, which means basically, we can develop our own projects. It means we can do things that perhaps we can’t get grant funding for. It means we’ve got a bit of freedom. We can do it very quickly on things, and so, The Big Shark Pledge, for example, that’s something that we’ve been able to fund through unrestricted money that we’ve been able to very quickly pull it together, set this project up, get a decent video to go with it, and then see how it goes.
And then from that point on, it’s just about getting as many people as we can engaged with it. It’s not very controversial, what we were asking is for fisheries to be managed sustainably so that species don’t get pushed to extinction. That’s it, essentially. But the fact that everyone can do something about it and this relationship we have with SHARK SUPs is a great example of the type of thing we want to do where we just want to reach out of our echo chamber a little bit and reach people that perhaps haven’t thought of shark conservation before. Haven’t thought, “Oh, right, there’s an issue there. I haven’t really realised that.” We can, through things like we’re doing here, we can just talk to people and bring those issues to the table and then hopefully develop better awareness of what needs to be done.
Reuben, SUPBOARDER Magazine
Absolutely.
Paul Cox:
Values and animals.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, no, absolutely. It’s something that hopefully everybody comes away from this video and thinks, “I’m going to get on a pledge. Maybe you want to be a member, get a great magazine. It’s great for the kids.
Speaker 2:
Yeah. So thanks Paul, for speaking to us as well, but also the whole team. There’s so many more team members that we didn’t interview on camera. They’re all so passionate about sharks. We all can really make a difference just to raise awareness, even just to get our kids into understanding how amazing and beautiful these creatures are. If you want to find out more information or help again, subscribe to the Shark Trust Magazine, become a member, all that money does make a difference. And of course, thank you to SHARK SUPs, who are now fully financially collaborating with the Shark Trust, which really can help them do a better job in the future.
