Increased knowledge about sharks increases public concern about their conservation

O’Bryhim, Jason R. and E.C.M. Parsons

Marine Policy, 2015, vol. 56, issue C, 43-47

Abstract: Gaining support for shark conservation has been extremely difficult due to the negative preconceived notions the general public holds toward sharks. In order to achieve public support for conservation initiatives the factors that will change an individual’s attitude and behavior toward sharks must first be determined. Using structured questionnaire interviews (n=186), indices were created that rated an individual’s knowledge, attitude, and potential behavior toward sharks and shark conservation. Generally public knowledge levels about sharks were low. However, people with more knowledge pertaining specifically about sharks had potential behaviors more supportive of their conservation. Therefore, it would seem that increases in public knowledge on sharks would help gain support for shark conservation. Males, members of environmental groups, and viewers of shark documentaries and “Shark Week” all showed significantly higher levels of knowledge about sharks. The media (such as “Shark Week” ) can play a significant role in promoting conservation, but unfortunately media coverage of sharks has been controversial recently with the airing of several non-factual, fake documentaries. To promote shark conservation the media’s message has to be unbiased, non-sensationalized, and accurate to ensure people are receiving the information necessary to build strong pro-shark conservation behaviors.

Keywords: Behavior; Conservation; Knowledge; Sharks; Shark week; Survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X15000421
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:marpol:v:56:y:2015:i:c:p:43-47

DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2015.02.007

Access Statistics for this article

Marine Policy is currently edited by Eddie Brown

More articles in Marine Policy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().