Comment from Susana Navajas

Hammerhead species (Great hammerhead, Scalloped hammerhead and Smooth hammerhead) are protected species in state waters since January 2012. From 1984 to 2000, Hammerhead species have declined by up to 89% in the Northwest and Western Central Atlantic waters. (Baum et al. 2003, Jiao et al. 2009) At the CITES conference this March, those hammerhead species also received a better protection status as most countries acknowledged their need for such international protection. According to a 2005 study, “several pelagic shark species including … scalloped hammerhead… should be of high conservation priority in the northwest Atlantic, and until there is reliable information to the contrary, these vulnerable fishes should be managed accordingly.” (Burgess et al. 2005) However, sharks are in need of further protection and therefore we would like to ask for federal protection of all hammerhead species We are aware of the fact that fishing is a part of Florida’s economic activities, but better rules and regulations do not have to affect people’s livelihood: catch and release fishing for sharks gives the fishermen the possibility to conduct their hobby and gives the sharks a much bigger chance of surviving. We would like to point out that healthy sharks are always best and bring in much more profit in the long run. “The three most popular hammerhead sites that most divers visit (Alcyone, Manuelita, and Roca Sucia) have average abundances of 42, 21 and 10 hammerheads; that is, divers see an average of 71 hammerheads sharks per diving trip. Therefore every “average” shark brings over $82,000 to Costa Rica every year. Assuming every hammerhead (which can live to 35 years) visits Isla del Coco for 20 years; every shark would bring $1.6 million to Costa Rica over its lifetime – and many jobs.” (Cortes et al. 2012)