NOAA Gives Great White Sharks More Protection On West Coast In Gulf of the Farallones Sanctuary

October 2, 2009

Great White Sharks Given More Protection in Gulf of the Farallones Sanctuary

We in Massachusetts have had our share of great white stories and sightings this past summer, especially with the sightings and tagging of several great whites off the coast of Chatham and Monomy Island.

Prior to the past few years most of the great white shark stories were focused on the established great white shark population residing in the waters off the North-Central coast of California.

Many scientists and researchers in the marine community now believe that great white sharks, and many other large sharks, are being hunted, fished and caught at an alarming rate throughout the waters of the world.

Shark

Found in North-Central California waters, white sharks feed on seals and sea lions, primarily during late summer and fall months. The sharks play an important role in the marine ecosystem by keeping fast-growing seal and sea lion populations in balance

To help protect the great white shark population in the waters off California, NOAA (National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration) announced that it has implemented new regulations to protect the great white shark in NOAA’s Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, a marine protected area just west of San Francisco.

The regulations, enacted by NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, prohibit activities that would attract white sharks anywhere in the Farallones sanctuary.

“Attracting” The Shark

“Attracting” the sharks means any activity that lures or may lure a shark by using food, bait, chum, dyes, decoys (e.g., surfboards or body boards used as decoys), acoustics or any other means.

The new rules strengthen the ban on hunting and fishing for white sharks by allowing them to feed undisturbed and without distraction from intrusive human activities.

Getting within 50 meters (164 feet) of any white shark within two nautical miles of any of the Farallon Islands also is prohibited. The Farallones are comprised of three island groups, part of the Farallon Archipelago, approximately 27 miles from the Golden Gate and Point Reyes.

About The Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary

Designated in 1981, the NOAA’s Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary encompasses 948 square nautical miles (1,255 square miles) of water off the northern and central California coast.

Located just a few miles from San Francisco, the waters within the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary are part of a nationally significant marine ecosystem that supports a diversity of marine habitats and species.