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 Today a growing number of shark species around the world are threatened and some on the verge of extinction, due to wasteful bicatch resulting from commercial fishing practices including shrimp trawling and long lining. Sharks are also threatened by the illegal shark fining trade as well as illegal poaching of the great white shark for its characteristically large jaws for re-sale to collectors. The slow moving, filter feeding, whale shark is also at risk due to a growing demand in Asia for its meat known as “tufu fish.”
Thanks to efforts by Mexican conservation-based nonprofits, the trade of shark fining is now illegal and both the great white shark and whale shark are protected species. While this is so, illicit fishing and poaching continues in Mexican waters. To protect Mexico’s shark populations, scientists and environmental nonprofits are working to promote expanded research of the migratory patterns of sharks. Over the past three years the International Community Foundation has supported a variety of research efforts to better understand the population of great white sharks—the largest apex predator in the seas-- on Guadalupe Island through its Guadalupe Island Conservation Fund. Thanks to the support of so many committed donors--divers and eco-tourists, contributing to the Guadalupe Island Conservation Fund, the International Community Foundation has been able to support the research of Mexican scientist, Mauricio Hoyos-Padilla, through the nonprofit Iemanya Oceanica to support the shark tagging and monitoring of juvenile great white sharks on the island. Hoyos’ research is aimed at determining the importance of specified locations off Guadalupe Island as a nursery for juvenile great white sharks. Guadalupe Island is the ideal location for this work given its remote location, the methods proposed are state-of the art, and the proposed research should yield important information relevant to conservation efforts. You may view Hoyos's presentation here. In an effort to protect great white shark populations from illegal poaching, 9 year old, Danny Kiy, the son of ICF’s President & CEO recently initiated a “Kids-4-Sharks” Campaign to support the research efforts of Mauricio Hoyos on Guadalupe Island, including the purchase of biotelemetric tags for sharks. Danny will be working in partnership with his classmates at Ocean Air School in San Diego whose school mascot is the shark. To help promote his youth philanthropy shark conservation efforts, young Danny recently traveled to Guadalupe Island to see the great white sharks first hand.  In the coming year, the International Community Foundation seeks to support a more expansive shark tagging research project on the Revillagigedos Island, located in Mexican waters about 300 miles off the coast of Los Cabos where illegal fishing is now a growing threat. Through the work of U.S. and Mexican researchers at UC Davis and Mexico’s CICIMAR, there is hope to set up an array of tag detecting monitors on this island. To support such research and conservation efforts the Revillagigedo Island Conservation Fund was recently established at the foundation to provide charitable support to marine and terrestrial conservation work on the Revillagigedo Islands Archipelago with an emphasis on Socorro Island. The planned monitoring efforts on the Revillagigedos Island will compliment recent activities by other researchers to establish monitors throughout the eastern tropical Pacific at Cocos Islands, La Perla & Malpelo, and Darwin and Wolf Islands of the Galapagos Archipelago. The goal is to determine the extent of the migratory movements of hammerhead sharks and whale sharks to better assist Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama and Ecuador with their respective conservation efforts. Our foundation encourages you to contribute to our forthcoming shark conservation efforts by supporting research on both Guadalupe Island and the Revillagigedo Islands. To learn more about how you can help, visit the Guadalupe Island Conservation Fund page, the Revillagigedo Island Conservation Fund, the newly established “Kids4Sharks” Campaign page or contact Richard Kiy at rkiy@icfdn.org. |