For someone who fears sharks or whose life is affected by Selachophobia (uncontrollable fear of sharks), the idea of fishing sharks into extinction may seem like a good idea. On the other hand, marine biologists have good reasons to disagree with such a desire. Here’s why!

When you think about sharks, the Jaws theme song haunts your mind, shark movies come back to life before your eyes and articles on shark attacks put you in the panic mode. Your adrenaline level is high and your heartbeat is rising at alarming speed. The last thing on your mind is about saving sharks. After all, what is the use of keeping these killing machines around? Right?

Wrong! In fact, by forcing sharks into extinction, you are basically sentencing life in the ocean to a death sentence. Why? Simple, predators such as sharks are needed to keep the balance of the ecosystem up to par. With the absence of sharks, the ecosystem will be crashing and will never recover.

A good example of this is the current over-fishing of sharks on the east coast of the United States. That situation is directly responsible for the alarming diminution of scallops, which happen to be a favorite delicacy for rays. Since sharks are rays natural predator, the fact they are victims of over-fishing means that the population of rays grows fast. This means that more rays eat more scallops but the scallop population can keep up for the demand.

If the over-fishing of sharks continues, soon other species will be threatened by extinction. One thing leading to the other, the ecosystem will be destroyed. So now that you are aware of this piece of information, can we get rid of all sharks without problems resulting from it or is it another shark tale? Well, obviously, it is another one of these shark tales.

Another one of the shark tales is the one that says that all sharks are man eaters. When people usually think about sharks, they think of shark species such as: the great white shark, the bull shark, the tiger shark and the blue shark. And when you consider that they are not only carnivorous but also have been involved in shark attacks on humans, it can be scary. But when you consider that these species are a few amongst the 350 shark species, of which 80% are either too small or unable to make humans part of their meal, the fear gradually subsides leaving its spot to facts instead of another one of these shark tales.

When all things considered, 56 fatal shark attacks on an annual basis is horrific but you have more chances to die in a car accident and we don’t destroy all vehicles. So is it really fair to wish upon the extinction of all sharks? Would you be willing to face the consequences of such an action on the ecosystem? Now you be the judge!