The Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF) has announced a partnership with the Shark Conservation Fund (SCF). 

The partners aim to maintain healthy oceans by preventing the extinction of shark species. To that end, SOSF will add its scientific contributions to the multidisciplinary team that dispenses grants for shark conservation.

With a focus on the conservation status of sharks, an understanding of their ecological importance, and the nature of the threats they face, SCF will include shark and ray protection in marine-protected areas to meet its 30 by 30 goal, which aims to protect 30 percent of the Earth’s land and waters by 2030. Over the next decade, SCF intends to include spatial planning and support partners’ protection of Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs) in at least 100 marine protected areas.

“Older than dinosaurs, sharks of some kind have been a constant in our oceans for millennia, yet in just a few decades we’ve cut their numbers by 70 percent,” said SOSF chief executive James Lea. “As predators, sharks are integral to the stability of many marine ecosystems, and so helping these majestic fish to recover can in turn improve overall ocean health.”

(Photo Credit: Christopher Vaughn-Jones)