Success Stories

• Shark Conservation Success Stories:
  
  The following are links to just a few success stories from shark conservation campaigns around the world. These inspiring stories prove that grass roots efforts DO work.
  
  Please contact us to let us know about other success stories that you would like to share.
  
  Great work and congratulations to everyone who contributed to these campaigns!
  Let's make this list HUGE!!
  
  Shark Rescues:
  
  Lemon Shark Rescue - Guests and crew of the Shear Water rescue a lemon shark with a rope tied around her neck. See the video here
  
  Restaurants / Stores:
  
  Amphibious Warrior Scuba Wear - Tom Sergent:
  Olympic Tavern is a local pub & eatery. They ran a special on Thresher and when my wife Carolyn & I found out about it we called them on the phone and sent out emails to other shark lovers asking them to help convince the Olympic to stop serving Shark. We also wrote blogs & posts on MySpace, The Dive Village & Facebook. The Olympic was overwhelmed with emails & calls. The owner sent me an email stating he had no idea that sharks were threatened and promised to only serve sustainable seafood from now on.
  
  Anderson Japanese Gardens was another place that offered up a Mako dinner. My wife Carolyn went in and asked for the chef and explained the plight of sharks to him. I hit the phones & internet to let other Shark Warriors get involved. The bad part for this place was that Philippe Cousteau was set to give a speech there in a couple weeks so I contacted Philippe and let him know about the Mako dish. Philippe along with scores of emails & phone calls convinced this place to only serve sustainable seafood from then on.
  
  Kiki B's was and still is one of my favorite places to eat locally. One night my wife & I went there for dinner only to see that the nights special was Thresher shark. I told the hostess that serving shark was equivalent to serving baby seals on Ivory toothpicks...just wrong! I then told her that Sharks are threatened and should not be sold anywhere. We then walked out. Once we got home we started on the phone & emails. Kiki promised to go all sustainable & even helped out on a recent news story I did locally on shark conservation.
  
  Kudos to all of these places for doing the RIGHT thing. I would like to add that in ALL of these cases it was the Seafood provider that offered these sharks on 'Special' to the chefs. Most restaurants have a food & beverage manager that decides the menu & specials. These are the people that I think considerable time should be spent targeting with conservation & sustainability awareness.
  
  Thanks to StopSharkFinning.net, TradeKey agrees to remove Shark Fin listings from its e-commerce site
  http://www.stopsharkfinning.net/campaigns/tradekey.htm
  
  IEMANY Oceanica and StopSharkFinning.net letter writing campaign is a success! Jade Restaurant in the Palazzo Hotel in Las Vegas has taken shark fin soup off the menu. http://www.stopsharkfinning.net/campaigns/lasvegas.htm
  
  Chef Philippe Chow of Philippe's and Chef Scott Boswell of Stella! have both removed shark fin soup from their menus.
  http://www.thedorsalfin.com/shark-news-stories/chef-phillipe-chow-pulls-shark-fin-soup-off-the-menu/
  
  Chef Alice Waters signs Humane Society International's No Shark Fin pledge
  http://www.hsus.org/press_and_publications/press_releases/chef_alice_waters_vows_no_use_of_shark_fins_in_food_073109.html
  
  Disney World Hong Kong removes Shark Fin Soup from its wedding menu
  http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-050624-1.html
  
  Hakasan Restaurant drops Shark Fin Soup from its menu
  http://www.bite-back.com/hakkasan.htm
  
  Three Chinese Restaurants in London's China town take shark fin soup off the menu
  http://www.bite-back.com/chinatown.htm
  
  Seafish, the UK Sea Industry Authority, removes shark recipes from its website - another Bite Back success!
  http://www.bite-back.com/newsrecent5.htm
  
  Taiwan's National Palace Museum removes shark fin soup from the menu:
  http://www.hsus.org/hsi/oceans/sharks/shark_finning/sharks_taiwan_museum.html
  
  Barona Valley Ranch Resort & Casino drops Shark Fin Soup thanks to diver, Carl Robbins
  http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/InNews/scubadiver2009.html
  
  Alibaba, the largest Chinese online marketplace, agrees to stop selling shark fins
  http://www.sharksavers.org/en/blogs/shark-savers-blog/393-alibaba-to-end-shark-fin-sales.html
  
  Loblaws store chain stops selling shark fin soup - Sharkwater
  http://www.abandonfear.com/index.php/2009/02/17/shark-fin-soup-off-the-shelves-at-canadian-superstore/
  
  ASDA - Bite Back convinces UK Supermarket to stop selling Shark
  http://www.bite-back.com/campaigns/campaigns.htm
  
  Sportfishing / Tournaments:
  
  Are You Man Enough? Shark Challenge 3 - Changed to 100% Catch & Release
  http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/InNews/nokill2009.html
  
  Supplements - Shark Cartilage / Shark Liver Oil:
  
  Natural Factors Canada decides to stop the sale of Shark Cartilage products:
  http://www.naturalfactors.com/ca/en/news/show/35/natural-factors-decides-to-stop-the-sale-of-shark-cartilage-products
  
  Holista Health (Canada) Inc. agrees to stop producing Shark Cartilage pills
  http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-090427-4.html
  
  Nutrition House removes Shark Cartilage pills from its product line
  http://seashepherds.ning.com/forum/topics/official-letter-from-nutrition
  
  Holland & Barrett Halt Sale of Shark Cartilage Capsules
  http://www.bite-back.com/newsindex.htm
  
  Cosmetics - Squalane:
  
  L'Oreal substitutes plant based squalane for shark liver oil in its product line
  http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jan/30/conservation.wildlife
  
  Unilever substitutes plant based squalane for shark liver oil in its beauty products
  http://community.oceana.org/blog/2008/01/unilever-wash-squalane-its-beauty-line
  
  Vermont Country Store drops Shark Liver Oil face cream from its product line
  http://www.oceana.org/index.php?id=2290
  
  Events:
  
  Shark Savers Day at the Miami Aquarium a huge success - this event was a big hit with the kids and calls have been rolling in from adults who want to learn more about shark conservation!
  http://www.sharksavers.org/en/galleries/galleries-of-shark-savers/603-shark-savers-day-at-miami-science-museum.html
  
  Isla Mujeres, Mexico Whale Shark Festival draws tourism to the island and positive attention to sharks
  http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2009/07/swim-with-a-40foot-whale-shark.html
  
  Great White Shark Festival - Gansbaii South Africa
  http://www.whitesharkfestival.org/news/thanksArticel.pdf
  
  Media:
  
  "Death of a Diety" Shark Conservation film by Joe Romeiro and Bill Fisher wins Emerging Underwater Filmmaker Award at the prestigious Blue Ocean Film Festival - June 2009:
  http://www.foxprovidence.com/dpp/rhode_show/rhode_show_local_shark_documentary_wins_award_20090716
  
  Amphibious Warrior Scuba Wear's Tom Sergent in the News - Don't Fear Sharks!
  http://www.wrex.com/Global/story.asp?S=10855546
  
  Save Our Seas "Rethink the Shark" campaign:
  http://www.lesleyrochat.com/rethink-the-shark/
  
  Legislation:
  
  Palau rejects shark fishing; Shark Savers petition played a key role - thanks to all who signed!
  http://www.sharksavers.org/en/blogs/utila-whale-shark-blog/599.html?task=view
  
  Great Barrier Reef: The concerted effort of environmental groups, including Shark Savers' petition and letters, helped to get improvements made to proposed shark fishery rules.
  http://www.sharksavers.org/en/get-involved/archived-petitions/260-petition-oppose-new-shark-fishing-in-the-great-barrier-reef.html
  
  Shark Conservation Act of 2009 passes in the US House of Representatives (now waiting for vote in the Senate)
  http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-81
  
  Maldives moves to protect its sharks
  http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/InNews/maldives2009.html
  
  City of Delray Beach passes an ordinance to ban shark fishing from its Municipal Beach
  http://www.mydelraybeach.com/weblink/DocView.aspx?id=114768&dbid=1

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