Pew Charitable Trust - European Shark Week
Project Leader: Uta Bellion
The Shark Alliance is a non-profit coalition of almost 60 non-governmental organisations from science, conservation and recreation organizations, initiated, managed and funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts (Pew) through its European Union (EU) Marine Programme. European Shark Week (ESW) is a week-long event that takes place once a year across Europe, led and supported by the Shark Alliance in order to raise awareness of the plight of sharks and motivate people to get engaged to achieve better shark conservation policies. Such policy measures will, in our view, only be obtained through persistent public pressure. For this reason, the week plays a crucial role in strengthening shark conservation policies.
The project will be overseen by Pew staff, with a consultant contracted for eight months to prepare the materials and coordinate with Shark Alliance member groups and national coordinators. There will be online and off-line opportunities for people of all ages to become more familiar with sharks, their unique biology, the threat they are facing, and the possibilities to ensure more effective conservation of sharks. The project is part of a larger fisheries reform project of Pew’s European Marine Programme and Pew is providing substantial co-financing.
The project will be overseen by Pew staff, with a consultant contracted for eight months to prepare the materials and coordinate with Shark Alliance member groups and national coordinators. There will be online and off-line opportunities for people of all ages to become more familiar with sharks, their unique biology, the threat they are facing, and the possibilities to ensure more effective conservation of sharks. The project is part of a larger fisheries reform project of Pew’s European Marine Programme and Pew is providing substantial co-financing.
Aims & objectives
The main objective of European Shark Week 2009 is to raise sufficient awareness and create sufficient engagement from citizens across Europe to obtain Council and Parliament endorsement of effective shark conservation regulations in response to the Community Plan of Action for the conservation and management of sharks, particularly: a strengthened fining regulation and reduced annual catch limits in the annual EU TACs and Quotas regulation.
With the help of a core team and a contracted project manager, we will develop a series of materials that member groups can use during ESW and that will help them gain visibility and support for the plight of sharks:
In summary, ESW will deliver the following engagement opportunities: Over 100 awareness events taking place in at least 10 EU Member States; 50,000 signatures in favour of a strengthened fining regulation that is expected to be proposed by the EU Commission some time during 2009; At least five meetings with senior officials in key Member States to gain support for implementation of the Community Plan of Action for the conservation and management of sharks.
With the help of a core team and a contracted project manager, we will develop a series of materials that member groups can use during ESW and that will help them gain visibility and support for the plight of sharks:
- ESW poster
- Magazine advertisement (small version of ESW poster).
- Blank event poster
- Stickers- simple text European Shark Week
- Badges
- Event flyers for each country
- A film, dubbed or subtitled, to support conferences at aquariums and dive show events. (National Geographic’s Shark Warnings)
In summary, ESW will deliver the following engagement opportunities: Over 100 awareness events taking place in at least 10 EU Member States; 50,000 signatures in favour of a strengthened fining regulation that is expected to be proposed by the EU Commission some time during 2009; At least five meetings with senior officials in key Member States to gain support for implementation of the Community Plan of Action for the conservation and management of sharks.