06/08/2026
One of the most important concepts in wildlife conservation is something called shifting baseline syndrome.
A common argument is that there are “more sharks than ever” and that shark populations have become excessive. But compared to what?
Many fishermen fishing today began their careers during a period when several shark populations were already severely depleted from decades of overfishing. For example, sandbar sharks declined so dramatically by the 1980s that federal protections were eventually put in place to help them recover.
As populations recover, people naturally see more sharks than they did during those historically low periods. But seeing more sharks than during a population collapse does not necessarily mean populations are higher than they were historically. In many cases, it simply means they are recovering from an artificially depressed baseline.
It’s also important to recognize scale. Shark-diving operations represent a very small part of a much larger system. Around the world, sharks have learned that struggling fish on the end of a line are an easy meal, a behavior that long predates modern shark tourism and occurs on a scale vastly larger through recreational and commercial fishing.
Wildlife management is rarely black and white, and there are always tradeoffs to consider. However, published studies have not demonstrated that shark-diving operations are causing measurable negative impacts on shark populations, migration patterns, or aggression toward people.
Conservation decisions should be guided by science, historical context, and data… not shifting baselines.
