Through our research, we aim to provide important data on shark presence, abundance, habitat use and movement patterns in the Pacific.
Learn MoreWe reach out in person and digitally through presentations, one on one meetings, school visits, community events, multinational gatherings and more.
Our policy work occurs at three main levels, community, national and international and the policy measures span recreational and industrial fisheries, trade and ecotourism.
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Through research, outreach, education and advocacy, we are working to understand the complex issues contributing to the decline of shark and ray populations and helping to create effective regulations that will protect them for future generations.
DonateWe say we need sharks, yet we rarely paint the full picture of their importance. Imagine a marine food web as a tightly woven net. Every strand represents a species which helps hold the shape of the whole. Pull one strand and the net doesn’t just lose a thread, it unravels—no longer able to hold the weight of its contents. This is the basic idea behind ecosystem balance, the health of a habitat depends not just on the presence of individuals, but on the relationships between them.
The Nat Geo Kids Almanac 2027 is full of fascinating facts about our world, from profiles on every country to discoveries about animals to details about the night sky featuring the latest images from the James Webb Space Telescope.
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“We cannot reasonably expect crews to comply with complex fisheries regulations including logbooks, bycatch mitigation, finning bans, spatial closures and other requirements when they are overworked, underpaid, isolated and afraid."
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One of the region’s most outspoken tuna advocates says the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) faces a credibility crisis if next week’s Manila meeting once again fails to deliver long-promised harvest strategies.
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Much of the world’s albacore tuna catch, which usually ends up in a can, comes from the southwestern Pacific Ocean, where fishery managers just passed a new set of conservation rules.
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Sharks Pacific has delivered a strong message to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), warning that the region cannot claim credible fisheries management while ignoring the growing threat of marine pollution, especially abandoned fishing gear.
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Sharks Pacific Policy Director Bubba Cook says the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) faces a defining moment in Manila, warning that failure to adopt a management procedure for South Pacific albacore would hit Pacific economies and undermine the credibility of the Commission.
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Conservationist Alfred "Bubba" Cook and high-profile New Zealand investigator, Tim McKinnel talk to Paddy Gower about the dark underbelly of the international fishing industry and the need for greater transparency, accountability and change.
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A global initiative supporting ocean conservation efforts in the most remote corners of the tropical Pacific has sent an all-Cook Islands research team to Penrhyn.
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But there are solutions, experts say, such as regulating international trade in sharks and creating more sustainable fisheries.
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National Geographic explorer Jessica Cramp discusses how to better save sharks through improved conservation policies.
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The project surveyed nearly 400 reefs across 58 nations as part of the Global FinPrint project and concluded that sharks were virtually absent on many of the world’s coral reefs, indicating that they are too rare to fulfill their normal role in the ecosystem.
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We say we need sharks, yet we rarely paint the full picture of their importance. Imagine a marine food web as a tightly woven net. Every strand represents a species which helps hold the shape of the whole. Pull one strand and the net doesn’t just lose a thread, it unravels—no longer able to hold the weight of its contents. This is the basic idea behind ecosystem balance, the health of a habitat depends not just on the presence of individuals, but on the relationships between them.
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Over 600 million hooks enter the Pacific Ocean from longliner fishing vessels every year. Independent observers witness what happens on just 5% of those vessels. The rest? Invisible. And yet, fisheries observers have one of the most important jobs in terms of shark conservation.
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Transshipment is the transfer of goods, fish and other marine life between fishing vessels at sea or in port, and it has existed for centuries all over the world’s oceans. Sharks Pacific, however, is actively advocating for a full ban on high seas transshipment, with the aim of improving transparency and oversight as industrial fishing vessels transship in exclusive economic zones or in ports.
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