Fifty years after its release, researchers have highlighted that the movie “Jaws” led to a white shark fishing frenzy across the globe.
This is primarily due to the massive negative portrayal of the shark in the movies as a mindless serial killer intent on hunting and devouring humans.
The “Jaws Effect,” as it has become widely known, is argued to be responsible for the decimation of the great white population in the years following the film’s release. The effect was so destructive that both director Steven Spielberg and Peter Benchley, the author and screenplay contributor, deeply regretted the impact the movie had on the general public.
In fact, in the years since the film’s release, Benchley had gone on to become a major advocate for shark conservation.
The movies led to a massive rise in shark fishing tournaments, and due to the negative light in which sharks were portrayed, a massive number of different species were mercilessly hunted and destroyed. Couple this massive boost in shark fishing with the fact that sharks take a long time to reach sexual maturity, breed slowly and in small numbers, and the effect on the global shark population has been devastating.
Multiple data points show that the 1970s and 1980s witnessed a massive decline in the shark population worldwide, and this decline was particularly pronounced in the great white population off the east coast of the USA, where the film is set. Alongside the US, the date also shows that Australian great white sharks suffered a terrible decline in the same era.
On the positive side, since the implementation of various conservation measures in the 1990s, there are signs that the numbers of these majestic creatures are rising again.
This is good news, as the ocean needs great whites to remain healthy.
