Shark Attacks Decline

Chris Dixon: Dr. Burgess, I read the recent AP story on the U of F shark file. The first sentence in the story said that an increase in shark fishing has "helped" lower the number of attacks -- as if this increase in shark fishing is a good thing. Obviously no one wants shark attacks, but a lower number of sharks is not necessarily good news either.

George Burgess: No it isn't it's bad news in fact. Basically we've had a three-year period in which shark attacks have declined almost across the board. From a worldwide perspective, and from a US perspective. It's happening everywhere -- there's not one location skewing the statistics. That said, normally we don't get excited about attacks going up and down from one year to the next because there are so many factors that come into play in shark attacks.

Considering that we've now seen three straight years of continuous decline, I've become a little more interested in what's going on. It's more than year to year variations that you can explain away with something like a bad hurricane. Well, what is it? There could only be a few explanations. There are less sharks in the ocean, less humans in the ocean, or less chance for both to get together. We know there are less sharks there. There has been a reduction in shark populations around the world.

The number of humans in the water could also be down. This could be as a result of the downturn in the economy that occurred following 9-11. As a result if there's less money out there, people may be less inclined to go to the beach. Or simply people are scared to fly because of fears of terrorism.

CD. But you also may have some offsetting factor from this -- you've probably seen it from living in Florida and I surely have from living in California -- that there are just more people moving permanently to the coast.

GB: Of course. Then there is another thing. Maybe humans are beginning to listen to advice a little more than they had in the past. For years and years we've harped on do's and don'ts to try and minimize the already miniscule chance of getting attacked. Maybe more are buying into this. So those are possibilities that might explain reductions in shark attacks. Do we have research or data that say 'yes that's it'? No, we don't and I don’t think we will.

Photo: NOAA

We could take a look at beach utilization and see if there were less people on the beach during the recent years. I don't know if we could find that either. I do know that tourism numbers were down here in Florida. The shark population numbers, however, are fact. We've got plenty of evidence to show that shark populations are down on a national and international level. And whether humans are heeding that advice? Who knows.

CD: How long before you can confidently attribute the decline in attacks to the numbers of sharks dropping?

GB: Obviously scientists are going to watch this trend and see what could happen next year. Normally we don’t get excited about things until we see them over a ten-year period. If we look at the end of the decade at the number of attacks, I predict that the average will actually be higher than it was in the 1990's. That's simply because there are more human beings on earth and concurrent increases in aquatic recreation like surfing.

CD: I wonder if technology down the road might not have an effect in reducing attacks too. You've seen people using this Australian technology called the SharkShield in shark heavy waters. It seems to work. Water photographers have even been using them in sharky waters on the world surfing tour.

GB: It's interesting that you bring up technology, because technology can work both ways. Assuming the technology does work, then we might reduce attacks. But technology is in large part also why shark populations are in such decline. We've gotten so good as a race at catching things, and can do it so much more effectively. That's why sharks and so many other animals in the sea are in such decline. Our technology has gotten so damn good that there's just no competition out there.

CD: In a place like Florida, are we talking primarily commercial fishermen who are depleting the shark stocks?

GB. No we've had both. On the East Coast, the decline in sharks began primarily as a result of sport fishermen starting around the mid-1970's and the release of the film and book Jaws. It set thousands of testosterone-laden fishermen out to go catch the nasty shark and get their picture taken with Jaws. There was a huge increase directed at sharks. Then the commercial boys came aboard and did their part as well. And they continue to. They're doing it at a lesser rate here as a result of fisheries management. So now fishing for sharks has diminished greatly -- and there's a plan to bring them back. Of course, there's a lot of concern for this on the West Coast as well. I think now that fisheries management is working in general, but not for all species.

CD: Sharks reproduce slowly though, so it will be awhile before any real rebound occurs in their population.

GB: Right, unfortunately as you know, sharks are not like bony fishes. When they get hammered as they have been here, the recovery is going to be measured in decades.

So we've turned the corner is the good news. The bad news is it's going to be decades before they come back. Now that same kind of thing is going on in the rest of the world, but with few exceptions, those other parts of the world don't have fisheries management. So those declines are happening at an alarming rate. As bad as we have gotten in the U.S., we're still many steps ahead of everyone else.

Finned Shark. Did She Deserve This? Photo Courtesy: www.oceandefense.org

CD: I've seen horrendous video of Asian fishing crews hauling in sharks, hacking off their fins and then dumping the live sharks right back in the water. Wholesale, enormous slaughter. Is there any way they can continue fishing practices without killing off everything in the water?

Photo: Elasmoworld, Costa Rica

GB: They can't. The sharks are the tip of the iceberg. Sharks and other critters that have similar characteristics: long lived, slow growing, late to reach sexual maturity. Those characteristics are killers, and they're shared with sea turtles, whales and dolphins. Those critters are the most susceptible. Trailing behind, but not far behind are lots of fishes, shrimps and other creatures that are feeling the onslaught of our technology. Particularly in third world countries, these species are just being annihilated with no concern at all.

Sharks are high profile kinds of animals at the top of the food chain, and they have a special place in the grand scheme of things, but they're symptomatic of a much bigger problem that's right here at our doorstep.

Photo: Mar Guidote, Task Leader, Coastal Law Enforcement, Coastal Resource Management Project (Phillipines)/sharktrust.org

That's the real story. Shark attacks are just an asterisk at the bottom of the page.