People Need Healthy Oceans, and Healthy Oceans Need Sharks
The Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance Launches Save Our Sharks Project
All six islands of the Dutch Caribbean will benefit from new funding provided by the
Dutch Postcode Lottery aimed at an essential conservation effort—saving shark species.
The fund will provide €1.6 million to the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA) to
assist with the effort. The Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA) is a nonprofit
organisation created to protect the environment and promote sustainable management of
natural resources on the six Dutch Caribbean islands.
DCNA’s effort in the Caribbean may be the first to attempt a concerted regional approach
in the global endeavor to save shark species.
Conservation organizations worldwide are focusing on preserving sharks. At least 500
species of sharks exist today but face increasing human-related threats. The demand for
fins and other shark products has driven a number of species close to extinction. More
than 100 million sharks are killed each year as a result of fishing and shark finning
activities, twice the rate at which they can reproduce. Sharks are especially vulnerable to
overfishing and slow to recover from depletion because they are late to mature and
produce few young.
“People need healthy oceans and healthy oceans need sharks, the apex predator of the
ocean,” said Kalli De Meyer, DCNA’s executive director. “If we lose sharks, we
invariably lose much of what makes our islands unique—the seas we call home. Yet
sharks are being driven to the brink of extinction by our ignorance and greed.”
In the Dutch Caribbean, sharks face numerous threats from poaching, finning, overfishing
and coastal development. With funding from the Dutch Postcode Lottery for this special
project, DCNA will focus on:



Science: learning more about shark species;
Education: helping more people learn about sharks; and
Legislation: protecting sharks throughout the six islands and ensuring that that
protection is adequately enforced.
Island conservation organizations that form the Dutch Caribbean conservation alliance
will work with fishermen, local communities, and scientists to study local shark
populations. The knowledge they gain will be shared with regional decision makers and
other island stakeholders in an effort to create shark sanctuaries throughout the Dutch
Caribbean seas.
Conservationists also will work to create different ways for islanders to benefit from the
presence of sharks in Dutch Caribbean waters, such as making them a part of the dive
tourism industry.
“Sharks need our help,” De Meyer said. “Thanks to the generous support of the Dutch
Postcode Lottery, we can now make a real difference for our local populations and help
create a healthy ecosystem that will sustain our islands for many years to come.”
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Twitter
New €1.6 million from @PostcodeLoterij will help @DCNA #savesharks
#saveoursharks <INSERT URL LINK HERE>
#DutchCaribbean regional focus on #shark #conservation may be first in the world!
<INSERT URL LINK HERE>
Facebook
All six Dutch Caribbean Islands are working to save shark species from extinction, with
€1.6 million in new support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery.
<INSERT PHOTO HERE>
<INSERT URL LINK HERE>
NOTE TO KALLI: I included both hashtags (#savesharks #saveoursharks) to try to link
up with existing streams and get some cross pollination, and included the second tweet
with hashtags for the same purpose. You could also add @sharkdefenders and/or
@pewenvironment if you want them to take note.
ST. MAARTENS VERSION
People Need Healthy Oceans, and Healthy Oceans Need Sharks
The Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance Launches Save Our Sharks Project
The Dutch Caribbean needs healthy oceans, and healthy oceans need sharks—the apex
predator of the underwater world. Yet the demand for fins and other shark products has
driven a number of species close to extinction.
With funding from the Dutch Postcode Lottery, all six islands of the Dutch Caribbean are
undertaking a concerted regional approach in the global endeavor to save shark species.
The fund will provide €1.6 million to the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA) to
assist with the effort, which may be the first attempted on this scale. The Dutch
Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA) is a nonprofit organisation created to protect the
environment and promote sustainable management of natural resources on the six Dutch
Caribbean islands.
Conservation organizations worldwide are focusing on preserving sharks. At least 500
species of sharks exist today but face increasing human-related threats. More than 100
million sharks are killed each year as a result of fishing and shark finning activities, twice
the rate at which they can reproduce. Sharks are especially vulnerable to overfishing and
slow to recover from depletion because they are late to mature and produce few young.
“If we lose sharks, we invariably lose much of what makes our islands unique—the seas
we call home,” said Kalli De Meyer, DCNA’s executive director. “Yet sharks are being
driven to the brink of extinction by our ignorance and greed.”
In the Dutch Caribbean, sharks face numerous threats from poaching, finning, overfishing
and coastal development. DCNA’s shark preservation project will focus on:



Science: learning more about shark species;
Education: helping more people learn about sharks; and
Legislation: protecting sharks throughout the six islands and ensuring that that
protection is adequately enforced.
Island conservation organizations that form the Dutch Caribbean conservation alliance
will work with fishermen, local communities, and scientists to study local shark
populations. The knowledge they gain will be shared with regional decision makers and
other island stakeholders in an effort to create shark sanctuaries throughout the Dutch
Caribbean seas.
Conservationists also will work to create different ways for islanders to benefit from the
presence of sharks in Dutch Caribbean waters, such as making them a part of the dive
tourism industry.
“Sharks need our help,” said Tadzio Bervoets, shark committee chair for the project.
“Thanks to the generous support of the Dutch Postcode Lottery, we can now make a real
difference for our local populations and help create a healthy ecosystem that will sustain
our islands for many years to come.”
###
Twitter
#NAFSXM and @DCNA launching project to #savesharks #saveoursharks <INSERT
URL LINK HERE>
Here’s another approach:
FACT SHEET
Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance
Save Our Sharks Project
Sharks are valuable
 Sharks are the top predator in the ocean and essential for a healthy food web
 Tiger sharks, for example, have been directly linked to the health of seagrass
beds
 Sharks could be part of the dive tourism industry rather than being viewed as
a threat
Sharks are vulnerable
 The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that
nearly half the shark species are threatened or near-threatened with
extinction
 Shark species including the silky, hammerhead, and thresher are being
overfished
 Commercial fishing kills about 100 million sharks each year either
incidentally or for their fins, meat, liver oil, cartilage and other parts The
industry is largely unregulated throughout the world
 The shark population is especially vulnerable because sharks are late to
mature and produce few young
Sharks need protection
 Sharks are being killed at about twice the rate at which they can reproduce
 International protection has been piecemeal
 In 2014, 120 governments that join in the U.N. Convention on the
Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals officially committed to
protecting sharks
 The Dutch Postcode Lottery is providing nearly €1.7 million to the Dutch
Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA) to assist with shark conservation efforts
 DCNA is a nonprofit organisation created to protect the environment and promote
sustainable management of natural resources on the six Dutch Caribbean islands
 DCNA is working to establish shark sanctuaries throughout the six islands of
the Dutch Caribbean
 The Save Our Sharks project will focus on
 Science: learning more about shark species
 Education: helping more people learn about sharks
 Legislation: protecting sharks throughout the six islands and ensuring that
that protection is adequately enforced
###