Earth Equity News

U.S. and Cuba Discuss Alliance to Save Sharks. By Jeff Franks, Reuters, September 18, 2010. "A team of U.S. scientists and environmentalists met with Cuban officials this week to discuss a proposed alliance, including Mexico, to protect the Gulf of Mexico's declining shark population. The meetings were a product of both improved U.S.-Cuba relations and concern that only a joint effort by the three nations that share the gulf can protect sharks, whose numbers are said to be down as much as 50% for some species… Shark populations have fallen worldwide, primarily due to overfishing to satisfy China's demand for shark fin soup, which is rising as China becomes more prosperous, scientists say. An estimated 73 million sharks are being killed annually mostly for their fins, the EDF said in a recent publication. Still unknown, said shark expert Robert Hueter at the Mote Marine Laboratory, is the effect of the massive BP oil spill this summer in the Gulf of Mexico…While sharks have a fearsome reputation, they are critical to ocean ecology, particularly around coral reefs, he said."