TPW TV -- SAVE OUR SHARKS: An ocean predator is in 
trouble ... learn more ... ahead ... on Passport to Texas (1/30)

This is Passport to Texas

As marine predators go, sharks swim at the top of the 
food chain. 
 
08 -- Without having these top end Apex predators, you have the 
ecosystem that gets out of balance, These predators help 
control everything below them.

But they can't control what's below them if they're gone.

07 -- Worldwide, sharks have been depleted by overfishing. 
Between 30 and 70 million sharks [are] killed by humans every 
year.

Dr. Stunz is a marine biologist with the Harte Research 
Institute, and appears the week of February 1 on a TPW 
PBS TV segment called SOS: Save Our Sharks.

08 -- One of the things that has contributed to a decline in 
sharks is shark finning: fishermen actually catch the sharks, cut 
their fins off, and discard the body.

Illegal in American waters since 1993, finning remains 
active in foreign waters, as fishermen earn up to $900 a 
pound for the fins. Illegal fishing on gear called long lines 
occurs close to home, too; it's the most immediate threat 
to sharks in the U.S. says Game Warden Sgt. Luis Sosa.

12 -- We've got Mexican commercial fishermen that come into 
US water - Texas waters - on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the 
most common type of species that is being caught on this 
illegal gear is sharks.

Save Our Sharks airs the Week of February 1 on PBS 
stations. Check Local listings. The Wildlife and Sport Fish 
Restoration program supports our series, and receives 
funding through your purchase of fishing and hunting 
equipment and motor boat fuel ... For Texas Parks and 
Wildlife ... I'm Cecilia Nasti. 

Total sound bite time:		 0:35.0
Maximum Script time:		 0:53.0 Suggested show time: 85.0 = 1:25