It’s that time of the year again!  The Discovery Channel’s annual Shark Week – the popular week-long series of TV programming dedicated to all things shark – is back for the 31st year.

Starting this Shark Week, July 28, we’re intensifying our efforts to mobilize support for national and international protections for shortfin mako sharks based on a new scientific assessment that finds the North Atlantic population has been severely depleted and is continuing to be seriously overfished.

As the countdown begins for the 18th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES CoP18) - scheduled to take place in Switzerland in August - Project AWARE is once again mobilizing our global community to influence governments and encourage them to take action before it's too late! 

With your support, we can ensure that if countries agree to control trade for both species of mako shark (longfin and shortfin mako) at the CITES meeting in August 2019, then they are duty-bound to follow through with these commitments to actively reduce fishing pressure on these highly vulnerable shark species. Together with our Shark League partners, we’re working towards banning catches for mako in the North Atlantic, one of the regions where the species is most at risk. 

Shark Week 2019 is a fintastic opportunity to #MakeTime4Makos! Join #Divers4Makos around the world urging governments and fisheries managers to step up and put mako sharks on the path to recovery, starting with reviewing proposals this August for Parties to CITES to regulate trade in endangered mako shark species and for Fisheries Managers to agree on a complete fishing ban in November.

Top Six Mako Sharks Facts

1. Makos are slow to reproduce and are valued in many countries for both meat and fins; however, they are not subject to any international fishing quotas. 

2. The IUCN Shark Conservation Group has announced that both the Shortfin and Longfin Mako Shark are now classified ‘Endangered’ aka facing ‘a very high risk of extinction in the wild’. 

3. A new report shows that the overfished North Atlantic Shortfin Mako Shark population is continuing to decline and needs not only immediate protection but several decades for populations to recover. 

4. Scientists have pushed the earliest possibility of North Atlantic population recovery to 2045, five years later than predicted just two years ago. 

5. The European Union is co-sponsoring a proposal from Mexico (for decision in August) to list mako sharks on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which would obligate Parties to regulate exports based on determinations that products are legally and sustainably sourced.

6. Fleets from the European Union, primarily Spain, take more makos than any other ICCAT Party and are not subject to any limits on catch. Spain will host the annual ICCAT meeting in November 2019.

Sharks, and mako sharks in particular, are under serious threat from overfishing, which is often driven by international trade demand.

If you enjoy the shock and awe of popular television programming such as Shark Week, live every week like it’s Shark Week! #MakeTime4Makos and join #Divers4Makos taking action year-round for science-based shark conservation measures. Happy Shark Week!