Thirty years.

Oh, 30 years. That's a really devastating figure and one that can really motivate the public but I think people may try to dismiss that as impossible to prove. Where did you get that figure?

We got that figure from Dalhousie University and various studies. How we know that kind of information is by knowing how many baited hooks there are at what depth. You can't take a complete picture of the ocean, but you can know by measuring baited hooks and how many less fish were caught there.

If there is one thing that contributed to the public's fear of sharks it's the movie Jaws. So has Steven Spielberg seen Sharkwater?

[laughs] Well, I don't know if he's seen it, but we've tried to get it to him a number of ways. He was supposed to be in it at one point. It was some footage of him talking about Jaws and everything sharks have done for him. But just before the release at the Toronto film festival he pulled out and said "no you can't use that in the film."

That's too bad. It'd be great if he endorsed it and said, "Look folks it was just a movie."

Yeah, well I'm sure you know who Peter Benchley is (the author of the book Jaws); well, he basically spent years apologizing for it.

For more information about Sharkwater and about Shark Conservation visit the film's official website.

Check back soon for part two of my conversation with Rob Stewart where we talked about shark conservation, eco-tourism, and the poor record of some countries like Canada in protecting endangered species.