The single greatest threat to sharks, by far, so much that there’s not really a number 2 threat, is unsustainable overfishing.
The single most effective thing folks can do to help is don’t buy unsustainable seafood.
Notice I didn’t say give up all seafood. Sustainable seafood is great.
What is something a common ordinary person can do to help shark conservation? Any things to avoid buying, or any places to donate to that are good places? I'm landlocked so actually being on the coast doesn't help. :(
SOME canned tuna is sustainable caught, but most is not. That said, the kind that is is only marginally more expensive than the kind that is not. Pretty much any tuna sourced from the Indian ocean is NOT sustainable, but many US and EU fisheries use sustainable practices.
American Tuna, Wild Planet, Whole Foods, and MOM's Organic Market are all brands that utilize sustainable practices, though not necessarily for ALL of their tuna products. Look for the terms like pole-caught, pole-&-line-caught, troll-caught, or FAD-free.
Generally avoid maguro (bluefin) and ahi (yellowfin) as the former is universally overfished, and the latter is typically fished in a manner that has high bycatch impacts. That said, if you're buying cheap canned tuna, you're probably not buying either of these.
"Safe Catch" brand is available in a lot of places, and they very deliberately follow all of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch's guidelines. Pretty much every ocean conservancy group I know has them as a recommended brand. The Whole Foods 365 brand is also pretty highly recommended.
