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𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗙𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗛𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗶𝗶

Congratulations to Hawaii as they become the first US state to ban shark fishing.

The act of knowingly capturing, entangling or killing any shark species in Hawaii is banned from Saturday, Jan 1, 2022, which is detailed in Act 51 (House Bill 533). This was announced on World Ocean's Day last year.

According to Act 51 (House Bill 533), sharks keep the ocean ecosystem in balance by regulating and ensuring the health of other marine life populations and reefs.

The purpose of the ban is to “protect sharks for their ecological value while not criminalizing the accidental capture and release of sharks that may be captured while fishing for other species as allowed by statute or rule,” as stated in Act 51 (House Bill 533).

Offenders will be fined $500 for a first offense, $2,000 for a second offense, and $10,000 for a third and any subsequent offenses. Additional penalties might include the seizure of commercial marine licenses, vessels and fishing equipment, as well as substantial administrative fines.

Brian Neilson, administrator of the Division of Aquatic Resources in Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), said: “We are well aware of how important sharks are to maintain healthy marine ecosystems. We also recognise their importance in native Hawaiian cultural practices and beliefs.”

The new shark fishing ban does not apply to the following:

~People with special activity permits issued by the DLNR;
~Shark fishing for public safety purposes authorized and/or conducted by the DLNR;
~Sharks taken outside of Hawaii’s marine waters with required documentation;
~Sharks captured, entangled and/or killed due to self-defense or the defense of another individual;
~Sharks captured or killed based off a DLNR-issued permit.

📸 Sharkwater

𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝗚𝗨𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗡
𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵. 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀.
Follow:

“You have a chance to save endangered species from dying in drift gillnets. Legislation [S. 273/H.R. 404] recently passed the Senate that would require the California swordfish fishery to phase out the use of harmful, large mesh drift gillnets and facilitate the switch to cleaner fishing methods. The bill now moves to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Mile-long swordfish drift gillnets entangle, injure and kill large migratory ocean animals, including bottlenose dolphins, endangered s***m whales and critically endangered leatherback sea turtles.”

Follow the link to tell your members of Congress you support this bill:

Tell Your Members of Congress: End the Use of Drift Gillnets Tell your members of Congress to support the proposed federal bill to end the use of drift gillnets in waters off California and protect at-risk species from being killed.

"Phiomicetus Anubis is a key new whale species, and a critical discovery for Egyptian and African palaeontology,".

Species of ancient four-legged whale discovered

Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) crews rescued a lost swimmer yesterday after first spotting a pod of bottlenose dolphins. The exhausted swimmer, who had been missing for 12 hours, was seen within the pod about 2 and a half miles from Castlegregory beach.

The dolphins have now been identified as part of a population known to frequent the Moray Firth, Scotland, including a well-known individual - Spirtle, who had survived after being badly sunburned while stranded on mudflats in the Cromarty Firth in 2016.

Earlier this month came the happy news that Spirtle had given birth to a calf.

Happy Sunday! 💙

Dolphins 'alert' rescuers to lost swimmer A 12-hour search for a swimmer off the Irish coast ended after an RNLI crew's attention was drawn to the dolphins.

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