Whitetip Shark On Brink Of Extinction - Numbers Down 99% Since 1950s

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NEW ORLEANS - The population of oceanic whitetip shark, once among the world's most common tropical sharks, has plummeted by 99 percent since the 1950s and the species is nearly extinct in the Gulf of Mexico, scientists reported Wednesday.

The study published in the journal Ecology Letters blamed overfishing and called for new restrictions, but federal fisheries officials said the study was flawed and further assessments are needed.

Biology professors Julia K. Baum and Ransom A. Myers based their research on a comparison of data compiled by the U.S. government in the 1950s and data collected by trained observers aboard fishing boats in the 1990s. "They're not extinct, but there's virtually none left. This requires a drastic reduction in the amount of fishing," said Myers, a professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

In addition to the oceanic whitetip shark, the study also found sharp drops in two other species in the Gulf: the silky shark, down 90 percent since the 1950s, and the mako, down 79 percent."

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