Big Atlantic Sharks Disappearing
March 30, 2007 - The Miami Herald
By CURTIS MORGAN
UP FRONT | SHARKS Big Atlantic sharks disappearing, study warns. Overfishing of the Atlantic Coast's largest sharks may cause a decline in the population of valuable shellfish, according to a report today in the journal Science. | ...Ellen Pikitch, a professor at UM's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and executive director of the Pew Institute, called such surveys "the gold standard in terms of quality." The unlikely linking of big sharks and small scallops also is an important breakthrough, she said. "What we have always said is we know that sharks play an important ecosystem role in the oceans ...and we're likely to see some cascading effects from their decline," Pikitch said. "This is the first paper to show some reciprocal effects."
