Shark Diver : Shark Diving : Swimming With Sharks: Shark Fin on Business Insider, With a Steaming Bowl of NY Hate?

Monday, March 19, 2012

Shark Fin on Business Insider, With a Steaming Bowl of NY Hate?

Reporter Matthew Kassel with the Business Insider got on to the shark fin debate in New York City in a unique and eye catching way this week.

He ordered and ate a bowl of shark fin soup.

This is one of the better written articles we have read on the multilayered issues surrounding shark fin bans, conservation efforts, and of course New York, currently in the middle of debates about shark fin bans.

The article is filled with facts, good quality interview subjects, and of course the actual moment that the reporter orders up a bowl of shark fin soup as part of a grander social experiment.

What got us was the extreme level of Asian hate on the comments section of this article. A level of acidic racism directed towards the NY Asian community that went unchecked and unchallenged until we stepped up today to say a few words.

Is this really the shark conservation movement and where the hell is the leadership?

Peter Puck

Unfortunately, there is no practical way to inject a highly lethal poison into the fins of a sufficient number of sharks to kill a sufficient number of soup slurping scum. It's equally unfortunate that there's no direct connection between eating shark fin and contracting cancer.

rufusmcbufus

I swear by god i'd rather see every single east asian dead before they kill the last shark. Mark my words, if it comes to this, I'll be on the sharks' side.
-rufus

6 comments:

Jonathan Gonzalez said...: I see these death threat type of comments everywhere. It's nuts. Actually, it's sad. I say that because I honestly believe that these folks who leave these comments are truly interested in helping in some way. I believe they have so much of a will to help that their emotions get the better of them. This can reflect negatively on the level headed folks out there that are actually doing something. I wish there was a way to channel all this positive will of these "nutty" folks to actually do some good instead of making it easier for the opposition to throw the race card. Ideas?; March 19, 2012 at 7:35 PM
Horizon Charters Guadalupe Cage Diving said...: These comments are playing into the oppositions hand.

Without leadership they will continue.

A blanket side media campaign about racism and hate and zero tolerance from the shark conservation community would be nice to see.

Sadly I fear that many agree with the people we call "crazy," so we just don't see any push back.

Leadership in the shark conservation space is at an all time low when comments likes these go unchallenged.; March 19, 2012 at 7:43 PM
Jonathan Gonzalez said...: Perhaps reputable NGOs with influence should address this with a tactful message to their thousands of humble followers?; March 19, 2012 at 7:45 PM
Horizon Charters Guadalupe Cage Diving said...: Ding, ding, ding!; March 19, 2012 at 7:49 PM
Jonathan Gonzalez said...: I've noticed when websites require a Facebook login to leave a comment, the quality of comments and discussion is increased. I wish more websites required this. I believe the anonymity of it all breeds a lot of the hate.; March 19, 2012 at 8:53 PM
Horizon Charters Guadalupe Cage Diving said...: Always, give trolls a chance to hide in the shadows and you breed ugly discourse.

Again, real leadership has to come from the NGO's who are pushing for these bans. As we saw in Toronto there was no leadership:

http://www.torontosun.com/videos/featured/featured-tor/1213592864001/poison-threat-over-to-shark-fin-use/1305251956001

In Toronto that ban might get overturned, the Asian Community is using this threat as part of their argument.; March 20, 2012 at 9:27 AM