Shark Guardians encourages self-generating publicity through discussion on Facebook and Twitter, and has a petition website where signatories can add their names.
It was launched in 2009 by diver and conservation campaigner Rich Clothier, 37, from Rugby in Warwickshire. “I was aware many groups focused on the shark fin soup issue, but they had overlooked this other [by-products] threat,” he tells Divernet.
By-products sold online can include curios such as teeth, jaws and skin, and taxidermal products.
“I really think customers of both these companies [eBay and Amazon] have the power to change things for the better,” says Clothier.
Eighteen months after its launch, the petition stands at 1150 signatures. The campaign is “still going strong” but there’s a way to go if Clothier’s hoped-for target of 10,000 supporters is to be reached.
Attempts to converse directly with eBay and Amazon have been “met with silence”, he says.
Clothier has been involved in shark conservation campaigning in one form or another for 15 years. He has dived for the past 10 years, mainly in central American and the Red Sea.
To join the Facebook group, click here.
To communicate on Twitter, click here.
To go directly to the Shark Guardians petition website, click here.
Rich Clothier can be emailed at sharkguardians@orangehome.co.uk.
Related links
Bite-Back ball to raise money for charities
Archive | 
Win a Luxfer pony cylinder
