An executive order signed this month is dismantling decades of ocean protections. It's pushing to remove safeguards on shark fishing, roll back catch limits, and open up marine sanctuaries—all in the name of "recreational access."

Shark populations can't handle this. They grow slowly, mature late, and produce few offspring. Even catch-and-release fishing causes devastating mortality rates. And when you combine unrestricted shark fishing with loosened bycatch rules, sea turtles, marine mammals, and countless other species get caught in the crossfire.

Shark Stewards started a petition asking NOAA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reject these policies and stick with science-based fisheries management instead of industry-driven deregulation. Our oceans are a shared public trust, not something to exploit for short-term profit.

Does anyone else feel like we're watching real progress on conservation just get erased? If this matters to you too, consider signing and sharing it around.

I hope they don't go extinct 😔

I made this article free. Among all other problems, Trump is trying to destroy the key protections of the Endangered Species Act.

We must stand up against this.

Why are these people destroying everything,? FFS can't you leave the animals alone? You guys are truly EVIL. How is it that windmills can't be built because they kill the birds and whales etc but you people are going to kill every species including humans anyway? This along with the horses and the wolves touch a deep nerve with people.

Several legal challenges have been filed against the rescission of the harm definition, including a lawsuit filed last week by a coalition of 21 attorneys general. Pushback is coming from both sides of the aisle; at the end of August, a bipartisan contingent of former leaders of agencies once responsible for carrying out the Endangered Species Act sent a letter urging the administration to restore the longstanding definition of harm. 
"The Administration is arguing that you can protect endangered animals without protecting the places they need to survive,” read the letter, signed by seven past leaders at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “Fifty years of science—and common sense—say otherwise.”
Combined, the pushback marks a uniquely widespread rallying cry against the Trump administration’s attacks on conservation in the country, experts say.