Shelley C. Clarke & The Charismatic Shark

The fish-friendly movie Finding Nemo came out in 2003. For almost a decade now aquariums everywhere have employed the film's charismatic cartoon stars in efforts to woo new converts to the doctrines of marine conservation. It should not come as a surprise, therefore, that scientists-like Dr. Nicholas Dulvy of Simon Fraser University-are now using the film's cast to identify a sample of marine species mankind might actually be willing to save.

That's logical right? Shouldn't the charismatic fauna that capture our hearts and imaginations inspire us to selfless acts of conservation? For example, shouldn't our affection for all things polar bear inspire not only post-Superbowl Coke sales but also catalyze meaningful and substantive responses to global warming?

Yes. Of course it should.

And, luckily, from time to time... it does.

Inspired and heroic efforts are undertaken. Every once in a while someone like Dr. Shelley C. Clarke manages to escape the lull of complacency that intoxicates 1st world privilege and crack open the global doors of perception. How many members of fishery commissions worldwide have ever taken the time or had the tenacity to brave the cultural electrocution of Asian fish markets? Clarke's work to quantify the shark fin markets of Hong Kong is remarkable. Her efforts are not merely the means to good science, they are indeed death-threat-defying valiant and selfless acts.

Clarke's work has risked everything at a personal level to reveal a uniquely terrible truth to the world: sharks - one of the most charismatic creatures of the sea - are traded on an almost completely unregulated market.

How can that be? How can the FAO estimates for shark fin harvests be so poor-4x less than Clarke's conservative estimate of 38 million sharks a year? How can we know so little... and be doing so much less to change things? For-as the trio of sharks from Finding Nemo must all be wondering-if this is superstar treatment, how will anything at all survive?