Steven Spielberg Regrets "Decimation Of Shark Population" Sparked By Jaws

Steven Spielberg “truly regrets” making Jaws as he believes it drove a frenzy of shark killings.

The Schindler’s List director, 76, who made his name with the 1975 horror about a bloodthirsty Great White terrorising a US resort added he hates the idea it painted sharks as man-eaters.

Asked how he felt about the waters around his desert island being inhabited by sharks, Spielberg told BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, "That's one of the things I still fear."

He added that he fears “sharks are somehow mad at me”, and said “I really truly regret that” about the spate of shark killings by fish hunters in aftermath of Jaws’ release.

He said the film was partly to blame for a “feeding frenzy” of “crazy fishermen which happened after 1975”, saying: “I truly, and to this day, regret the decimation of the shark population because of the book and the film.”

Jaws was based on a 1974 book of the same name written by Peter Benchley, who went on to become a shark conservationist. Experts say the novel and Spielberg's film led to professional and amateur fishermen and game hunters swarming to target sharks as trophies.

Spielberg's latest, The Fabelmans, opens in Singapore cinemas on Jan 26.— BANG SHOWBIZ

Photo: TPG News/Click Photos