Fish School by Oceana

On March 10th Oceana hosted Fish School here at Nautica. We enjoyed a fantastic panel of guest speakers including Oceana CEO Andy Sharpless, Law & Order actor Sam Waterston and Oprah Magazine Editor-in-Chief, Susan Casey.

Susan Casey, author of The Devil’s Teeth, kicked off Fish School with a fascinating slideshow and presentation on her multi-year research project on the great white shark. Casey conducted her research with two biologists, Peter Pyle and Scot Anderson, on one of the most dangerous and unnatural habitats, the Farrallon Islands, 30 miles off the coast of San Francisco. There, they discovered insights into shark behavior like their migratory feeding pattern and hunting habits.

Sam Waterston spoke passionately and encouraged us to be individual activists for our oceans. He urged us to ‘Live Blue’ by recycling responsibly, cutting back on our use of plastic products and being educated consumers regarding seafood. Andy Sharpless finished the session with a discussion on recent legislation that will affect and hopefully reverse the overfishing of sharks. Sharpless explained the vital role sharks play in our oceans ecosystems and how overfishing for the primary purpose of removing the shark fin has led to the drastic decline in the population around the world.

Oceana’s recent activism includes working with the United States Senate on passing the Shark Conservation Act of 2009 (S.850). The Act (S.850) will require that sharks be landed with their fins still attached. This measure will solve enforcement issues and facilitate better data collection for use in stock assessments and quota monitoring. In fewer than 10 years, Oceana has achieved dozens of concrete policy victories for marine life and ocean habitats.

For more information on Oceana, visit www.oceana.org