LOS ANGELES (November 30, 2011) —The Humane Society of the United States (the HSUS) and the Shark Free Marina Initiative (SFMI) commend the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) …
Panamanian President Outlaws Commercial Longlining
5 Jan 20115:28 PM
Great news from Panama – Terry & Mike Andrews, proprietors of Tropic Star Lodge, are reporting that Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli has signed Executive Decree 486, which immediately prohibits all forms of commercial and industrial longlining in all of Panama’s jurisdictional waters! Fishing boats of 6 tons are less will still be allowed to longline, but only with a strict license and only in designated areas.
Terry reports that this new law is the result of 20 years of hard work by many dedicated individuals, and cites Guy Harvey’s book, Panama Paradise, as a major influence in getting the president’s signature on the decree.
From Guy Harvey Outpost Ltd. – congrats and many thanks to all involved in the protection of Panama’s valuable marine life!
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![](mailto:?subject=New Research Confirms Benefits of Circle Hooks&body=Still not sure if you should be using circle hooks? Well, you should be - because <a title="Link to Dr. Graves study on Circl Hooks" href="http://www.inthebite.com/news/story.php?id=136" target="_blank">new scientific research</a> backs up the claims (again) that billfish are much more likely to survive a catch-and-release encounter when caught on circle hooks compared to traditional J hooks.
<a title="Bio for Dr. John Graves" href="http://www.vims.edu/people/graves_je/index.php" target="_blank">Dr. John Graves</a> of the <a title="VIMS web site" href="http://www.vims.edu/">Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences</a> (and Chairman of the <a title="GHOF Board of Directors" href="http://www.guyharveyoceanfoundation.org/board_of_directors.html" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation Scientific Advisory Board</a>) has published new data which shows blue marlin, white marlin and sailfish derive substantial conservation benefits from the use of circle hooks.
<a title="Full report from Dr. John Graves" href="http://www.inthebite.com/news/story.php?id=136" target="_blank">Read the full report here</a>. And, if you haven't already, please make the switch to circle hooks today.
<a href="http://www.circlehooksymposium.org/"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-199" title="2011 International Circle Hook Symposium" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/circlehooksymposiumlogo.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="216" height="208" /></a>
NOTE: Dr. Graves and others will take the circle hook debate one step further this May when the <a title="Circle Hook Symposium web site" href="http://www.circlehooksymposium.org/" target="_blank">2011 International Circle Hook Symposium</a> is held in Miami (the event is sponsored in part by the <a title="GHOF web site" href="http://www.guyharveyoceanfoundation.org" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation</a> and the <a title="GHRI web site" href="http://www.nova.edu/ocean/ghri/" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Research Institute</a>). The symposium will provide a forum for the review and discussion of relevant research concerning the viability of using circle hooks in recreational and commercial fisheries. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/new-research-confirms-benefits-of-circle-hooks/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Neal Watson Inducted into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame!&body=Headquartered in Georgetown, Grand Cayman; the <a title="International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame" href="http://www.scubahalloffame.com/main.html">International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame </a>recognizes the Pioneers of Diving. Neal has been a pioneering leader in dive tourism in the Bahamas and the Caribbean for 40+ years.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/10687291_967342136615595_9222110115519309721_o.jpg"><img class="wp-image-2280 size-large" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/10687291_967342136615595_9222110115519309721_o.jpg?w=550" alt="10687291_967342136615595_9222110115519309721_o" width="550" height="366" /></a>
Congratulations to the “Dive God!” Neal picked up his nick name for his record setting feats and well known sense of humor. He set the deepest compressed air dive at 437 feet. Neal also holds the longest underwater non-stop distance record of 66 miles starting off Islamorada, Florida and finishing 19 ½ hours and 25 tanks later off Miami.
Neal Watson serves as Director of Dive Operations for <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/">Guy Harvey Outpost</a> and operates <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/bahamas/bimini-bahamas/bimini-sands-dive.html">Neal Watson’s Bimini Scuba Center</a>, a Guy Harvey Outpost Dive Outfitter. Among those on hand in Grand Cayman for Hall of Fame induction ceremony were two other ISDHF Inductees, Dr. Guy Harvey and <a href="http://www.captainslate.com/">Capt. Spencer Slate</a>. Also on hand to help celebrate were Neal’s daughter Beth Watson, Director of Sales for Guy Harvey Outpost and Outpost CFO Kevin Denell.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/1798909_716052288475986_2053445800531585921_o.jpg"><img class="wp-image-2278 size-large" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/1798909_716052288475986_2053445800531585921_o.jpg?w=550" alt="Neal & Beth Watson, happy father and daughter." width="550" height="366" /></a>Neal & Beth Watson, happy father and daughter. Photo Courtesy of Courtney Platt.
You can see video of Neal’s induction into the <a href="http://www.dema.org/">Dive Equipment Manufacturers’ Association</a> (DEMA) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBirs8XTH2M">Hall of Fame 2005 Induction</a>. Also available on YouTube is Neal’s 1978 appearance on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3CJBj6aYao">To Tell The Truth</a>.
More Information on Guy Harvey Outpost & their other great resorts: <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/">http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/</a>
For the Guy Harvey Outpost Blog <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpostnews.com/">www.guyharveyoutpostnews.com</a>
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https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/neal-watson-inducted-into-the-international-scuba-diving-hall-of-fame/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Tagged yellowfin recaptured after 11 years&body=<a href="http://guyharvey.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/ribazon.jpg"><img title=""Ribazon" by Guy Harvey" src="http://guyharvey.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/ribazon.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="240" /></a>
From the <a title="P&C web site" href="http://www.postandcourier.com/" target="_blank">Post & Courier</a> (Charleston, SC) - Sunday, January 1, 2012
The recent reporting of the recovery of a tagged <a title="About Yellowfin Tuna" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowfin_tuna" target="_blank">yellowfin tuna</a> comes as a surprise to fisheries biologists.
The tag, sent from the <a title="NRIFSF web site" href="http://fsf.fra.affrc.go.jp/eng/index-e.htm" target="_blank">National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries</a> in Shizuoka, Japan, was just received by the <a title="SCDNR web site" href="http://www.dnr.sc.gov/" target="_blank">South Carolina Department of Natural Resources</a>' (DNR) <a title="SCDNR Marine Resources Division web site" href="http://www.dnr.sc.gov/divisions/marine.html" target="_blank">Marine Resources Division</a>.
The tagged fish measured about 68 inches, weighed approximately 189 pounds, and was captured on May 26, 2010 off the west coast of Africa off <a title="About Mauritania" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauritania" target="_blank">Mauritania</a>.
The fish was initially tagged by a volunteer angler participating in the Marine Division's game fish tagging program on April 20, 2001, just south of <a title="About Cat Island" href="http://www.bahamas.com/our-other-islands/cat-island" target="_blank">Cat Island</a> in the <a title="Bahamas web site" href="http://www.bahamas.com" target="_blank">Bahamas</a>. At the time of tagging, the juvenile yellowfin was just shy of 15 pounds.
This is the first recapture of a yellowfin tuna in the history of the program, which began in 1974.
"What makes this recovery exciting," said Robert Wiggers, a DNR fisheries biologist who administers the tagging program, "is that 151 yellowfin have been tagged and released by volunteers, but none have been recovered until now.
This fish was at large for nine years, packed on about 174 pounds and was recaptured close to 4,000 miles from where it was initially tagged."
As evident from this tag recovery, Atlantic yellowfin tuna are a highly migratory species and thus are a target species for both domestic and international fisheries. This fact should be of interest to recreational anglers when considering the impacts on the overall population of such fisheries. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/tagged-yellowfin-recaptured-after-11-years/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation President Steve Stock Named to Board of Directors for The Center for Coastal Conservation&body=Washington, DC - December 6, 2001 - The <a title="CCC web site" href="http://www.coastalconservation.us/" target="_blank">Center for Coastal Conservation</a>, an organization formed to promote good stewardship of America's marine resources, today elected Steve Stock, President of the <a title="GHOF web site" href="http://www.guyharveyoceanfoundation.org" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation</a>, to its Board of Directors.
The Center for Coastal Conservation is a coalition of leading individual, institutional and corporate advocates for marine recreational fishing and boating. Among its prominent members, the Center includes institutional partners, such as the <a title="ASA web site" href="http://www.asafishing.org/" target="_blank">American Sportfishing Association</a> (ASA), <a title="IGFA web site" href="http://www.igfa.org" target="_blank">International Game Fish Association</a> (IGFA), <a title="TBF web site" href="http://billfish.org/" target="_blank">The Billfish Foundation</a> (TBF) and <a title="NMMA web site" href="http://www.nmma.org/" target="_blank">National Marine Manufacturers Association</a> (NMMA).
The Center for Coastal Conservation’s role is to affect public policy related to the conservation of marine resources with broad abilities to pursue political solutions. The organization is non-partisan and focuses on having an impact in the national political arena, principally Congress and federal regulatory agencies.
As president of the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation (GHOF), Stock works closely with a Board of Directors to set policy and implement numerous programs designed to inspire scientific research and innovative educational programs to encourage conservation and best management practices for sustainable marine environments.
<a href="http://www.guyharveyoceanfoundation.org"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-1010" title="ghof_logo_cmyk" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/ghof_logo_cmyk.jpg" alt="" width="356" height="312" /></a>
In only its fourth year of existence, GHOF has been front and center internationally with its support—in both science and grants—to provide common sense solutions to reversing overfishing, pollution and other threats to the marine ecosystem.
Numerous organizations and causes have benefited from GHOF support over the years, including the <a title="GHRI web site" href="http://www.nova.edu/ocean/ghri/" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Research Institute</a> at the <a title="NSU web site" href="http://www.nova.edu" target="_blank">Nova Southeastern University</a> <a title="NSU Oceanographic Center web site" href="http://www.nova.edu/ocean" target="_blank">Oceanographic Center</a>, <a title="BBFS web site" href="http://www6.miami.edu/sharklab/" target="_blank">Bimini Biological Field Station</a>, <a title="UF web site" href="http://www.ufl.edu/" target="_blank">University of Florida</a>: <a title="FMNH web site" href="http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/" target="_blank">Florida Museum of Natural History</a>, <a title="MML web site" href="http://www.mote.org" target="_blank">Mote Marine Laboratory</a>, <a title="TOF web site" href="http://www.oceanfdn.org/" target="_blank">The Ocean Foundation</a>, <a title="About FL Sea Grant's Guy Harvey Scholarship" href="http://flseagrant.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=242" target="_blank">Florida Sea Grant’s Guy Harvey Scholarship</a>, <a title="FSU web site" href="http://www.fsu.edu" target="_blank">Florida State University</a>, <a title="USF web site" href="http://www.usf.edu" target="_blank">University of South Florida</a>, <a title="FIU web site" href="http://www.fiu.edu" target="_blank">Florida International University</a>, <a title="UT web site" href="http://www.utexas.edu" target="_blank">University of Texas</a>, <a title="USM web site" href="http://www.usm.edu" target="_blank">University of Southern Mississippi</a>, <a title="CCMI web site" href="http://www.reefresearch.org" target="_blank">Central Caribbean Marine Institute</a> and the <a title="RJDMCP web siite" href="http://rjd.miami.edu/" target="_blank">RJ Dunlap Marine Conservation Program</a> at the <a title="UM web site" href="http://www.miami.edu" target="_blank">University of Miami</a>.
Last month the GHOF was honored as the Outstanding Foundation by the Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Chapter of the <a title="AFP web site" href="http://www.afpnet.org/" target="_blank">Association of Fundraising Professionals</a> (AFP) as part of the 2011 National Philanthropy Day Celebration.
The Center for Coastal Conservation activities include advancing marine resource policy initiatives by influencing federal decision makers and by exerting a direct impact on the national political process. It built the Center for Coastal Conservation Political Action Committee – Center PAC – so its individual members can promote marine conservation issues in federal elections.
The Center worked in 2007 to secure an Executive Order signed by President George W. Bush protecting redfish and striped bass as federal gamefish. Its leadership also worked to achieve a 2008 Executive Order protecting recreational fishing on all federal lands and waters. Currently, the Center for Coastal Conservation is encouraging the White House to move its <a title="About the NOP" href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/oceans/policy" target="_blank">National Ocean Policy</a> toward responsible uses of ocean resources, rather than protectionism. The Center also led the effort for President Obama to appoint The Billfish Foundation’s Ellen Peel as his commissioner in international fisheries.
Other corporate sustaining members of the Center include <a title="AFTCO web site" href="http://www.aftco.com" target="_blank">AFTCO</a>, <a title="GW web site" href="http://www.gradywhite.com" target="_blank">Grady White Boats</a>, <a title="Shimano web site" href="http://www.shimano.com" target="_blank">Shimano</a> and <a title="Yamaha web site" href="http://www.yamaha.com" target="_blank">Yamaha</a>.
Stock will serve as a sustaining member of the Center for Coastal Conservation for a minimum of three years. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/guy-harvey-ocean-foundation-president-steve-stock-named-to-board-of-directors-for-the-center-for-coastal-conservation/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Take 10 Lionfish, Get an Extra Lobster During Sport Season&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/lionfish-being-netted_359x479.jpg"><img class=" size-medium wp-image-2791 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/lionfish-being-netted_359x479.jpg?w=225" alt="Lionfish-Being-Netted_359x479" width="225" height="300" /></a>At its June meeting in Sarasota, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved a new and exciting opportunity that will encourage divers to remove invasive lionfish by allowing them to take one extra spiny lobster each day during the two-day sport season this summer (July 29-30) that they also harvest 10 lionfish.
In addition, people can take a photo of their lionfish and lobster catch during the two-day season and post it on Facebook.com/LionfishReefRangers to get a “Be the Predator” T-shirt. One lucky photo entrant will also win a lifetime saltwater fishing license via a drawing held shortly after the sport season.
“The FWC operates in a culture of innovation. Opportunities like this are a great way to get divers who are already in the water accustomed to removing lionfish,” said Commissioner Brian Yablonski. “Our hope is that once lobster divers realize how easy it is to remove lionfish, they will continue to do so throughout the regular lobster season and beyond.”
Lionfish are invasive species that have a potential negative impact on Florida’s native wildlife and habitat. With no predators or other mechanisms such as disease or parasites keeping the lionfish population under control in Florida at this time, harvest by divers is the primary means of lionfish removal.
For the 2015 spiny lobster sport season only, divers will be allowed a single spiny lobster over the bag limit per dayfor each day that they also harvest 10 or more lionfish. Lionfish must be kept as proof of harvest while on the water. When off the water, a photo of harvesters with their 10 lionfish must be kept to document eligibility for harvesting an extra lobster. Lionfish must be harvested the same day and prior to taking the additional lobster. All other rules, including no spearfishing zones, apply.
The two-day spiny lobster recreational sport season (also known as mini-season) falls on the last Wednesday and Thursday of July each year before the Aug. 6 opening of the regular season. During this two-day season, the regular bag limit is six spiny lobster in state and federal waters of Biscayne National Park waters and off Monroe County, and 12 spiny lobster elsewhere. There is no bag limit for lionfish; harvesters can take as many as they want.
If the program is successful at encouraging lionfish removal, it could be continued in future years.
For <a href="http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTUwNjI1LjQ2NDc0NDExJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE1MDYyNS40NjQ3NDQxMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3NDk0MDg5JmVtYWlsaWQ9bGVvY0BtYXJpbmFtZ210LmNvbSZ1c2VyaWQ9bGVvY0BtYXJpbmFtZ210LmNvbSZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&&&101&&&http://myfwc.com/about/commission/commission-meetings/2015/june/23/agenda/" target="_blank">more information</a>, visit MyFWC.com/Commission and select “Commission Meetings” then the “Agenda.” For information about <a href="http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTUwNjI1LjQ2NDc0NDExJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE1MDYyNS40NjQ3NDQxMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3NDk0MDg5JmVtYWlsaWQ9bGVvY0BtYXJpbmFtZ210LmNvbSZ1c2VyaWQ9bGVvY0BtYXJpbmFtZ210LmNvbSZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&&&102&&&http://www.myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/lobster/" target="_blank">recreational spiny lobster</a>, visit MyFWC.com/Fishing and click on “Saltwater,” “Recreational” and “Lobster.”
Help the FWC by <a href="http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTUwNjI1LjQ2NDc0NDExJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE1MDYyNS40NjQ3NDQxMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3NDk0MDg5JmVtYWlsaWQ9bGVvY0BtYXJpbmFtZ210LmNvbSZ1c2VyaWQ9bGVvY0BtYXJpbmFtZ210LmNvbSZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&&&103&&&http://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/lionfish/" target="_blank">reporting all lionfish catches</a> and sightings via the Report Florida Lionfish app or at MyFWC.com/Lionfish.
This article appears courtesy of <a href="http://www.guyharveymagazine.com">Guy Harvey Magazine</a> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/take-10-lionfish-get-an-extra-lobster-during-sport-season/){kind=link}
 and diving to nearly 4,000 foot depths. Great whites are also a big conservation concern given their relatively low numbers in the world’s oceans.
In a major scientific step to understand the biology of this iconic apex predator and sharks in general, the entire genome of the white shark has now been decoded in detail.
A team led by scientists from Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Research Center and Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI), Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, and Monterey Bay Aquarium, completed the white shark genome and compared it to genomes from a variety of other vertebrates, including the giant whale shark and humans.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/GW-Shark-NSU-Research-.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-5298" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/GW-Shark-NSU-Research--300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" /></a>Photo by Byron Dilkes and Danah Divers
The findings are reported in the ‘Latest Articles’ section of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA.
Decoding the white shark’s genome revealed not only its huge size – one-and-a-half times the size of the human genome – but also a plethora of genetic changes that could be behind the evolutionary success of large-bodied and long-lived sharks.
The researchers found striking occurrences of specific DNA sequence changes indicating molecular adaptation (also known as positive selection) in numerous genes with important roles in maintaining genome stability ¬¬- the genetic defense mechanisms that counteract the accumulation of damage to a species’ DNA, thereby preserving the integrity of the genome.
These adaptive sequence changes were found in genes intimately tied to DNA repair, DNA damage response, and DNA damage tolerance, among other genes. The opposite phenomenon, genome instability, which results from accumulated DNA damage, is well known to predispose humans to numerous cancers and age-related diseases.
“Not only were there a surprisingly high number of genome stability genes that contained these adaptive changes, but there was also an enrichment of several of these genes, highlighting the importance of this genetic fine-tuning in the white shark,” said Mahmood Shivji, Ph.D., director of NSU’s Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Research Center and GHRI. Shivji co-led the study with Michael Stanhope, Ph.D., of Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.
Also notable was that the white shark genome contained a very high number of “jumping genes” or transposons, and in this case a specific type, known as LINEs. In fact this is one of the highest proportions of LINEs (nearly 30%) discovered in vertebrates so far.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/GW-Shark-NSU-Resaerch-Image.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-5299" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/GW-Shark-NSU-Resaerch-Image-199x300.jpg" alt="" width="199" height="300" /></a>Byron Dilkes and Danah Divers
“These LINEs are known to cause genome instability by creating double stranded breaks in DNA,” said Stanhope. “It’s plausible that this proliferation of LINEs in the white shark genome could represent a strong selective agent for the evolution of efficient DNA repair mechanisms, and is reflected in the positive selection and enrichment of so many genome stability genes.”
The international research team, which also included scientists from California State University, Monterey Bay, Clemson University, University of Porto, Portugal, and the Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, Russia, also found that many of the same genome stability genes in the white shark were also under positive selection and enriched in the huge-bodied, long-lived whale shark.
The discovery that the whale shark also had these key genome stability adaptations was significant because theoretically, the risk of developing cancer should increase with both the number of cells (large bodies) and an organism’s lifespan - there is statistical support for a positive relationship of body size and cancer risk within a species. Interestingly, this does not tend to hold up across species.
Contrary to expectations, very large-bodied animals do not get cancer more often than humans, suggesting they have evolved superior cancer-protective abilities. The genetic innovations discovered in genome stability genes in the white and whale shark could be adaptations facilitating the evolution of their large bodies and long lifespans.
“Decoding the white shark genome is providing science with a new set of keys to unlock lingering mysteries about these feared and misunderstood predators - why sharks have thrived for some 500 million years, longer than almost any vertebrate on earth” said Dr. Salvador Jorgensen, a Senior Research Scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, who co-authored the study.
But the innovations did not end there.
The shark genomes revealed other intriguing evolutionary adaptations in genes linked to wound healing pathways. Sharks are known for their impressively rapid wound healing.
“We found positive selection and gene content enrichments involving several genes tied to some of the most fundamental pathways in wound healing, including in a key blood clotting gene,” said Stanhope. “These adaptations involving wound healing genes may underlie the vaunted ability of sharks to heal efficiently from even large wounds.”
The researchers say they have just explored the “tip of the iceberg” with respect to the white shark genome.
“Genome instability is a very important issue in many serious human diseases; now we find that nature has developed clever strategies to maintain the stability of genomes in these large-bodied, long-lived sharks,” said Shivji. “There’s still tons to be learned from these evolutionary marvels, including information that will potentially be useful to fight cancer and age-related diseases, and improve wound healing treatments in humans, as we uncover how these animals do it.”
Decoding the white shark genome will also assist with the conservation of this and related sharks, many of which have rapidly declining populations due to overfishing,” said Steven O’Brien, a conservation geneticist at NSU, who co-conceived this study. “The genome data will be a great asset for understanding white shark population dynamics to better conserve this amazing species that has captured the imagination of so many.”
This research was funded by NSU’s Save Our Seas Foundation, the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, the Hai Stiftung/Shark Foundation, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and in-kind support from Illumina, Inc., and Dovetail Genomics. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/great-white-shark-genome-decoded/){kind=link}
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