‘Sharkwater’ Filmmaker Rob Stewart Receives Posthumous Senate 150 Medal

Canadian filmmaker Rob Stewart was honoured with a Senate 150 Anniversary medal on Wednesday, reports Tribute, during a ceremony in Ottawa attended by the late “Sharkwater” director’s parents, Brian and Sandy Stewart, in addition to their daughter Alexandra and son-in-law Roger.

Stewart, who passed away in early February while diving in the Florida Keys, was honoured posthumously by Senator Michael McDonald, who led the charge to pass Bill S-238, which would make Canada one of the first nations in the world to support a national ban on shark fins.

The commemorative medals were struck by the Royal Canadian Mint to commemorate the first time senators sat at Parliament in Ottawa on November 6, 1867.

“Senators want to take this opportunity to reflect on the incredible contributions made by Canadians from all walks of life,” said Senator David Wells, co-chair, Advisory Working Group on the Senate 150th Anniversary Medal. “We want to give some much-deserved recognition to Canadians who share the Senate’s goal of giving voice to people or issues that sometimes fly under the radar or don’t grab headlines.”

Through his award-winning films “Sharkwater” and “Revolution”, Stewart has been credited with saving one-third of the world’s shark populations.

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Rob Stewart receives Senate 150 medal In Ottawa this morning, late filmmaker Rob Stewart was among the honorees to receive a Senate 150 Anniversary medal. His parents, Brian and Sandy Stewart, accepted the medal from Senator Michael McDonald, whose Bill S-238 proposes that Canada support a national shark fin ban. Rob Stewart, who is credited with saving over one-third of the world’s sharks, won numerous awards worldwide for his movies Sharkwater (2007) and Revolution (2013). Sharkwater in particular was seen by audiences worldwide and inspired many to lobby their governments to put protections in place to guard the lives of sharks who were fished for their fins alone, then thrown back into the ocean with fins removed to die slow deaths. More recently, Stewart had discovered that the multi-billion dollar shark industry, which kills over 100 million sharks per year, was not only causing the extinction of sharks in the ocean, but was placing shark products into a variety of beauty and food products without the public’s knowledge. Stewart’s team is working on completing his sequel, Sharkwater: Extinction, for which he was obtaining footage when he passed away during a diving accident last January. The movie is expected to release to theaters in 2018.

A post shared by Team Sharkwater (@teamsharkwater) on Nov 29, 2017 at 12:50pm PST