By Ashley Bouman

Rob Stewart, an award-winning documentary filmmaker, was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. Stewart's major claim to fame is his documentary Sharkwater, which he wrote and directed. The idea for the film came to Stewart when he was 22. He was photographing sharks in the Galapagos Islands when he discovered an illegal long-lining operation targeting the sharks he was shooting. Long-lining is a commercial fishing technique that uses a long line with multiple (hundreds to thousands) baited hooks set up to target various species of marine life. The sharks were being hunted for their fins, which is illegal in a marine reserve. Dried shark fins can bring in anywhere from $200-$300 per pound; it is a multi-billion dollar industry.

His interest in filmmaking and aquatic life began at the age of 13 when he took up underwater photography. By 18, Stewart was a certified scuba-diving trainer, which led to his pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Western Ontario. After obtaining his first degree, he continued his studies in zoology at universities in Kenya and Jamaica. Before making his award-winning documentary Sharkwater, Stewart was the chief photographer for Canadian Wildlife magazine, a position he held for four years. Stewart has logged thousands of hours underwater using the latest in underwater photography technologies. His collection of motion and still images are both world-renowned and award-winning and have been sought out by some of the most popular and well-established media companies around the globe from ABC, Discovery Channel, BBC Wildlife, Asian Diver, Entertainment Tonight and numerous magazines. Sharkwater premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Fest, winning a "Canada's Top Ten" award as well as a multitude of prestigious awards from other film festivals and award categories. The film had the largest opening weekend of any Canadian documentary and the third-largest opening weekend in Canadian history, coming in after Fahrenheit 911 and Supersize Me.

The film is powerful and thought-provoking. Stewart teams up with ecological activist Paul Watson in an attempt to stop poachers. Stewart and his crews face numerous and dangerous challenges throughout the films production. The spine-tingling adventure takes his crew on chases with the police and the poachers, destructive boat ramming, corrupt court systems and attempted murder charges which force Stewart and Watson to flee from the authorities. The struggles were worth it, though; Stewart filmed hours of hidden camera footage of shark finning facilities.

A companion book was released in October 2007, Sharkwater: An Odyssey to Save the Planet. Both his film and book aim to debunk the myths and stereotypes about sharks that have people believing they are ferocious creatures that should be killed for the safety of swimmers. In reality, sharks prevent the overconsumption of plankton by other fish, but are now being hunted to the point of extinction. The main issue is getting people to realize that these feared beasts need to be protected. Stewart hopes the information in his book and film will persuade nations to pass, and strictly enforce, laws against shark poaching.

Currently, Stewart is working on an initiative to create a Chinese version of Sharkwater because China is the largest consumer and trader of shark fins in the world. With the rate that sharks are being hunted, we could see them extinct in our lifetime. Shark populations have dropped 90 per cent in the past thirty years and for now there are no signs of it stopping. Stewart is working with Save The Blue (www.savetheblue.org), an H2O Over Environmental Foundation that strives to protect marine and aquatic habitats.

Rob Stewart is a good example of how one person's idea can change the thinking of millions. While the perception of sharks is still daunting, there is the more important matter of the environment that we need to look into. Sharks cannot fully protect themselves so we should help.