Sharks win when shark tournaments start to dwindle...

This is the message that rings loud and clear as the Humane Society's efforts hto educate and rally support have been paying off. As our reader's know, we have been supporting the Humane Society in these efforts and have helped document the Montauk Shark Tournament  in New York, and The Oak Bluffs Shark Tournament in Marth'as Vineyard.

The Humane Society has already helped to shut down two tournaments, including the Destin Florida tournament, and have been crusading against shark tournaments  up and down the east coast. Next on the agenda - the Downeast Maine Shark Tournament.

  According to the Maine Sunday Herald:

"The pressure on sponsors and others involved with the Saco tournament has clearly intensified this year, Johnson said. Guinness, the maker of Irish stout, backed out as a sponsor of the event this year, Johnson said. The University of New England, which used to provide some equipment and appeared on the tournament's Web site, has made clear this year that it has never been a sponsor and has no association with the tournament."

And adds:

"Saco Mayor Roland Michaud also got a letter from Grandy. The city owns the Camp Ellis Pier, where the sharks are landed.

Michaud responded with a letter saying the tournament meets all federal, state and local rules and can't be prohibited. But he also wrote that he shares the group's concerns about shark populations and will ask a city commission to prepare a report to the council before next year's tournament.

The Humane Society's protests are lodged primarily through the letters and calls beforehand. During weigh-ins, the group has a plane pull a banner overhead calling for an end to shark tournaments.

Johnson (Downeast Maine Shark Tournament organizer) said he's optimistic about a large and successful tournament this weekend, based in part on an ideal weather forecast.

Next year, however, he's not so sure he'll still have the city's support."

Shark tournaments are a hot controversy at the moment. Conservation groups are fighting hard to shut them down, highlighting the plight of sharks. Tournaments are fighting equally as hard to stay around, claiming that they cause little impact. The reality is that nobody from either side of the argument can produce hard data on exactly what the physical toll is on the local shark populations. What is known however, is that shark species are in a steep decline, that the media coverage of shark tournaments does vilify the "jaws" persona we have all come to know over the years, and that something drastic needs to be done about shark conservation - on all levels - locally as well as globally.