Two Sides To A Fin - KOP Productions - Good Stuff

Great little documentary about sharks and shark fin by KOP Productions. 

The issues are not as cut and dry as one might imagine (no pun intended...well yes, there's some pun, about 20%). It is very easy to stand on a Facebook soapbox and cry foul when it comes to sharks.

Lord knows there's millions of petition folks about, but like any complex animal trade issue involving cultures, countries, and economic scales balance and nuance must play into viable solutions.

Of course we just used about six words your average shark conservationist, who fervently believe that blonde swimsuit models or head gear challenged divers, the ones who egregiously molest sharks for their own Facebook "like' number count, have no idea of their meaning. For example the words "viable" and "solution,"...pressing on, there are a few who actually think about these things and write about them too.

Da Shark has some thoughts on this and we'll let him play the Judas Conservationist with this issue because he's waaay ahead of the curve with his solutions and we find ourselves agreeing with them because they contain balance and nuance. Two additional words sadly left out of the Big Book of Shark Conservation these days while folks run off on moronic tangents trying to shoe horn the concept of an upside down Tonic Tiger Shark into some kind of broader conservation meaning.

Without videos like these the conservation movement for sharks would devolve into crudely drawn images on bathroom stalls and shit smeared bumper stickers slogans, wait, that has already happened, thanks to a small group of absolute twits who happen to exhibit a modicum of media savvy - oh and you know who you are, unfortunately we all do.

Sharks these days are running a gauntlet, at sea it's hooks and we can all agree that's bad news, in shore it's idiots with Kardashian sized egos, cameras, and a compliant media who lionize stupid pet tricks with sharks.

Anyway, this is the mainline to good conservation messaging, enjoy:




About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkcrew@gmail.com.

Calling All Industry Bloggers - Bring yer Red Meat!

Since 2008 this blog and quite a few others have brought three years of Industry Red Meat to the table.

The kind of blogging that informs, challenges, and sometimes even moves mountains.

Yes mountains. As in the recent trans disciplined, bi-coastal Red Meat Fest of the Oxy Shark Myth.

If you don't think that multi-blog expose fundamentally altered the way people propose shark conservation, you just haven't been paying attention.

Come to think of it, why the hell are you reading this post anyway?

Back to the providers of Red Meat.

We love you guys, and gals, and our blog roll reveals as much. For it is here you will find others who think, propose ideas, and bring to the table the discussions of the day that cause an entire industry and conservation niche to react, move, and consider.

It is also to be noted in an industry filled to the brim with those who are afraid to say what they want, paralyzed with fear at not being part of today's "in crowd", or just too bland to consider a life that has nothing in it but, "sail with the current winds," these few exceptional bloggers exhibit strong leadership for doing the complete opposite.

Life favors the brave, not those who join the pack and run with it until all their stripes fuse together to form one very large moving mass on the Golden Savannahs of Irrelevance (ya like that?).

It's good to shake things up once in a while.

So this is your chance. Get out there, make some noise, write about the things that that matter and make a difference.

Independent voices are the musical accompaniment to any industry including conservation.

You may not like the tune you are hearing all the time, but you have heard it and you had an opinion about it, and THAT dear readers is why Red Meat is so important.

About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkcrew@gmail.com.

Lionfish Invasive Species Solutions? You Bet!

As the Caribbean reels from an onslaught of invasive Lionfish, we took a great idea from Scotty Grey owner of the M/V Kate and Blue Iguana Charters based in Florida and had some fun with it.

Welcome to LionErects TM.

The basic concept behind any successful invasive species culling effort is to create a marketplace for the species. It's not a new idea, and it's one that's been floating around for a while now.

Watching the reaction to our post on Facebook and within the dive industry was telling. Overwhelmingly folks got it, unfortunately LionErects TM is just an idea.

Which gets us to an earlier post about shark conservations need for funding, and the idea of generating funds not seeking funds.

We can do this.

Tapping into established markets is an easy proposition and one that allows entities to enjoy long running revenue bases to work from.

In a perfect world the profits from one conservation effort fuels another.

LionErects TM is the perfect idea and business model to tackle a fish species that is devastating entire reef systems throughout the Caribbean. The other option is for some NGO to seek funds so they can pay fishermen to harvest lionfish with no real or lasting market incentive to do so.

Which model do you think will ultimately be successful in culling the lionfish invasion?

It's not magic folks. It's just business. Conservation needs to become engaged in the business world soon, or forever be on the back burner. We can only get so far with the programs in play today.

Tomorrow's answer to conservation will look a lot different.

Oxygen Depletion and Sharks - The Myth

Like Da Shark I recently watched a series of shark conservation videos featuring filmmaker Jonathan Ali Khan in Sharkquest Arabia.

Great stuff for the most part and compelling watching, except for one glaring factoid that gets pasted into the film and almost ruins the message.

Folks, if we lose all the oceans sharks we will not run out of the worlds Oxygen.

Seriously.

How this factoid ever got into the broad based conservation messaging for sharks remains a mystery. Call it a case of too many shark centric people wanting to save sharks and not checking in with their facts or even bothering to question the obvious.

But check we must, otherwise those who regurgitate said factoids look like conservation village idiots when up against those in power who can effect change and who may be slightly more informed.

Let's do away with this unsupported line of reason as the facts about shark conservation are horrific and compelling enough without the addition of Fox News style gotcha shark headlines:

With 92% of our living biosphere being aquatic, almost 80% of our planet’s air is generated by the algae and microscopic phytoplankton that are found in the sea. Many thousands of fish species and other marine organisms feed on phytoplankton and algae. Sharks on the other hand prey on the fish that feed on plankton; right up through to the top of the food chain. So if we remove the sharks, as we are systematically doing at an unsustainable rate of over 70 million sharks a year, then it leaves the plankton feeders free of predation and free to gobble up the main source of our planet’s main oxygen supply!

Therefore, it is in our interest to maintain a healthy source of oxygen and air, if we want to keep on breathing!

And watch this film, like we said aside from this small part, it is a tribute to sharks and the entire team should be congratulated:

Deserving of some Major Credit - Stefanie Brendl

For the past three years Stefanie Brendl has been in the "eye of the hurricane" for sharks.

As a shark conservationist who began her voyage to save sharks having owned a shark tourism operation on Oahu, she's become the embodiment of determination, grit, and political conservation savvy.

Haven't heard of her yet? Watch this video:

Commercial Trade Trumps the NGO's - Seal Hunt

The announcement of a new multi-million dollar trade agreement between Canada and China has set the seal conservation world ablaze.

For those of us a bit more left of center, this trade agreement is nothing new, and the main reason why many of "save the" campaigns ultimately fail.

While we're sure these fine ladies of PETA mean well, what they are doing here does not affect trade between nations. In fact all direct action seems to accomplish these days is in securing shows on Discovery Networks.

These shows are all but guaranteed to run 20-30 seasons of "saving the" with some colorful moments for audiences to watch. But at the end of the day markets are won and lost by trade agreements and even the top tier "save the" campaigns are at the whim of new trade agreements forged in desperation, or in multi-year packages.

As was the case recently in Canada.

The fact is after all the petitions, after all the sound bytes and protests, trade remains the driver.

Case in point Alibaba.com. Once the most egregious online platform for the sale and trade of shark fin, a global campaign to shut down this online trade was ultimately successful.

For exactly three months.

Today there are 5-8 online trade platforms that trade the same volume of shark fins. An eye opener for us when these sites were discovered, and a clear line of attack for conservation groups looking to effect change.

Go after the trade.

The debate about sustainable harvests with seals will go on forever, as apparently will the trade in seal meat and furs, to be recycled in China and sold back to us in the form of fur lined boots and premium dog food no doubt.

The end users of trade are the most vulnerable and usually have the most to lose. The folks on the front lines, the guys with the Hakapiks on ice flows in Canada make nice media targets but at the end of the day have the least to lose, because they are starting with little to begin with. Same goes for the shark finners in Mozambique, or the folks in Latin America coming in with tons of sharks fin on second and third rate fishing boats, selling their fins for a dollar a pound.

Change can come, and ultimately conservation groups can be successful, but the days of staged multi-million dollar media extravaganzas on television, small protests with semi naked protesters, and the endless cycle of online petitions has to end.

Trade agreements between nations trump everything and right now very few NGO's have a seat at the table when it comes to changing trade agreements.

It's a race everyone involved in "save the" campaigns can ill afford to lose.

The Shark-Free Marina Initiative Launches Massive Campaign With Major Celebrity Help

Ecorazzi got the scoop on the Shark-Free Marinas this week with an expose on star power
endorsements for this unique conservation concept:

From Ecorazzi:

What do Nigel Barker, Elizabeth Berkley, Alec Baldwin and Bill Maher have in common? They each support the Shark-Free Marina Initiative!

Here’s the deal: Sharks are disappearing from the world’s oceans at a devastating rate! To help combat this colossal problem, The Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation and The Humane Society of the United States have teamed up with the Shark-Free Marina Initiative (SFMI) to help launch a massive new campaign!

Over the next few months, SFMI will be reaching out to marinas across the world and asking them to get involved by prohibiting sharks from being landed at their dock. So far almost 83 marinas have signed up, and the number is growing each day.

Author and fashion photographer Nigel Barker is a strong supporter of the campaign and says, “There are many good fishermen out there who respect the oceans and know that in order to preserve their way of life for future generations we all need to be more aware of our actions and the results they may cause.”

Yes we do!

“Ecorazzi has played an important role in educating the public about the perilous state of sharks,” says Operations Director Patricia Ragan. “We encourage Ecorazzi readers to contact marinas they know to join the Shark Free Marina Initiative. Together, we can save tens of thousands of sharks!”

For more information on the campaign, check out SharkFreeMarinas.com

The 4 Lies of Shark Fin Soup - Chuck Thompson

If Chuck Thompson was prize fighter - he would be in the bare knuckles class. As we have been quietly pointing out the shark conservation movement is in trouble when it comes to the plethora of non NGO's who are tackling this global problem.

Not for a lack of deeply held convictions, desire for eco-stardom, media hits, or even petitions.

The movement has plenty of those.

In a recent expose in Guy Harvey Magazine Chuck looks into the shark world, interviewing "the usual volunteer bleeding hearts," to garner non-scientific quotes on the "state of the union" of shark conservation.

In the process the article reveals deep insights into the efforts to date and the Four Lies of Shark Fin Soup.

To that we would like to add a 5th.

The myth that the shark fin trade is run exclusively by Asian mafia. It is not. That misconception has lead many to believe this lawful trade is something sinister, instead of something that can be taken apart by attacking the trade itself.

What's needed is new thinking and a change in tactics because this is eco issue ultimately about trade, not sound bytes, Asians, a soup, or even failed reality television show bids on Animal Planet.

Kudos to Chuck Thompson for the article and the expose. If the movement is serious about saving sharks - it will have to get serious about what it is up against first.

For a deeper look Da Shark in Fiji has posted his four cents.

Making sense - as usual.

Guadalupe Island and Shark Tourism Documentary Short

Perhaps one of the best English version conservation shorts done of the pristine Bio Sphere in Mexico called Isla Guadalupe.

Video by Oceans Aloft.

Featuring shark diving operations by Shark Diver and Horizon Charters.

Shark Conservation: The problem, the goal, and how to get there

Once again "provoking thought" with David Shiffman over at Southern Fried Science this morning.

Where we tend to point out issues with the shark conservation movement that either work or do not, assuming that folks know what we're talking about, David has gone in depth and drilled down to the essentials.

We tend to agree with David on a lot of things, because he thinks strategically and often.

The shark conservation world needs critical thinking. Reacting is good, but you can only get so far "reacting to" a global shark crises.

Read Davids post today.

When it comes to critical and startegic thinking out loud this is about as good as it gets.

Gary Stokes Mantas in Peril - Conservation Media

Kudos to Gary Stokes from Oceanic Love for a series of conservation videos featuring the oceans.

Our personal favourite of this well edited series is "Mantas in Peril." First person eco crisis reporting often comes back with parts of the story that few in the wider conservation audience are aware of, such as the Asian market for manta and mobula "gill rakers."

Gary and his team expose this dark market trade in animal parts to the world.

Warning: This video series contains graphic images.

Excellent Conservation Messaging

The shark conservation world needs more directed PSA's. Specifically Asian language PSA's to bring home the point about sustainable shark fisheries, and declining shark populations.

Here's is one example of fine work with Asian language PSA's. Nicely done to all who were involved in this effort. Now, who's next?

113 Nations Agree - Will it save sharks?

113 nations have signed on to conserve migratory shark species. This is being heralded as a landmark decision.

On the flip side we have seen this kind of thing before.

Nations banding together to work long ranging plans for animal conservation and who fall foul to enforcement issues or internal pressures from commercial fishing interests.

In short, while these announcements are always good news, the conservation world needs to radically change the way we do conservation.

Too often nation conservation consensus leads to little in the way of actual conservation, as is the case with blue fin tuna.

Good "news" for sharks does not always translate into actual protections for animals.

SSACN announce Sharkatag 2010

Volunteer anglers from all over the UK will be descending upon south west Scotland once again in an attempt to tag as many inshore sharks as possible from boats, kayaks and the shore over the three-day period 18th to 20th June.

Sharkatag is just one of the Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network’s on going projects, aimed at highlighting the urgent need for shark, ray and skate conservation in Scottish waters and raising the public awareness of sea angling and its contribution to the economies of many coastal communities.

One of the main organizers Stuart Cresswell said. “Last years Sharkatag event was a huge success with over 200 volunteer sport fishermen catching, tagging and releasing over 200 sharks. The event received widespread publicity on prime time TV news bulletins and also benefited local businesses to a value in excess of £40,000.

"Our aim for the 2010 event is to increase participation and publicity of the event further and to clearly highlight the fact to Scotland's politicians that a live shark in the sea is actually worth over 20 times more than a dead shark on the fishmongers slab."

According to Ian Burrett, SSACN’s Projects Director the focus for this year’s Sharkatag event will be the tope shark which grows up to 100 lb. SSACN believes Luce Bay and the Solway are a breeding ground for tope, yet unlike in England and Wales, tope are not protected in Scottish waters and their numbers are dropping year by year. "We would like to be to be protected in all EU waters, but need our own Government to support that aim."

Other shark species such as rays, bull huss and smoothound will also be tagged. Scottish Shark Tagging Programme (SSTP ) tags, which carry a unique number, are carefully attached to the sharks. Details like weight, sex and length are recorded and entered on a database. When the shark is recaptured, the data can be analysed to provide evidence of species migrations, growth rates, stock populations, make-up and fluctuations.

Mark Harding has a Point - Shark Research

By way of Da Shark over at the always informative Beqa Blog in Fiji photographer Mark Harding questions the roll of shark research when it conflicts with shark conservation efforts.

Mark brings up many good points in this ongoing debate on his blog at Eyemocean. Mark is an eloquent writer who distills the issues down nicely.

Call it an evolutionary thought process.

We raised an eyebrow or two over the same news reports last week.

Submarines and CICIMAR Guadalupe Island

Interesting video of submarine explorations at Isla Guadalupe with Expedition Jaytay
and CICIMAR's ongoing white shark study at this site:

Seacology Announces Desal Plant at Isla Guadalupe

MEXICO, Guadalupe Island, Baja California Pacific – Sea water desalination system in exchange for a 1,235-acre marine reserve for a duration of 10 years.

Guadalupe Island, with a total land area of 80,000 acres, is one of the most remote islands of Mexico. The island’s only community is mostly fishermen and their families who have been using the island for decades, fishing lobster and diving abalone. Guadalupe Island has one of the best preserved marine environments of Mexico. Since the decree in 2007 of the “Guadalupe Island Biosphere Reserve”, the management and regulated protection of its natural resources is under the federal authority of the Natural Protected Areas Commission.

Guadalupe Island is one of the best examples in the world of an ongoing island ecosystem recovery where different entities (governmental and nonprofit) are participating. A water desalination plant is the local community's most urgent need. A desalinization system will be purchased with the help of Seacology in exchange for the creation and protection of a 1,235-acre marine reserve for a period of 10 years, where fishing, extraction of resources, damage to the sea floor, contamination or any other kind of damage is forbidden.

The desalination system will be able to supply as much as 3,000 gallons per day. The water supply could also support reforestation and restoration projects, particularly in the remaining patches of endemic forest. In 2000 and 2002, Seacology funded projects to construct and maintain fences to keep invasive goats out of the most sensitive areas containing endemic plant species. Goats have since been eradicated from the island.

Shark Volunteer Event San Francisco

Hello, COARE volunteers!

We hope that you are all enjoying the new year so far, and that you're as enthused as we are that it is going
to be a good one.

To kick off this year's activities, we have a few volunteer opportunities in February.


Sharks in the Park


Date: Sunday, 07 February 2010
Time: 11am-3pm

Location: Portsmouth Square, SF Chinatown

Lend a hand to save some fins!

As we mentioned in our last newsletter, last year's
Sharks in the Park event was a great success, and we're
excited to do it again!

The consumption of shark fin soup spikes up each year
during Chinese New Year celebrations. This year's
Sharks in the Park event will coincide with the festivals
preceding Chinese New Year, so attendance and outreach
are both is expected to be larger.

We're really hoping for a big turnout on this one.
Even if you can't volunteer, or even attend, please help
us spread the word.

Pass along the link:


For this event, we need volunteers to hand out
literature, answer questions, and generally engage
curious passersby.

For more information, please visit:


Our World Underwater

Dates: Friday-Sunday, 19-21 February 2010

Location: Donald E. Stephens Convention Center
Rosemont IL 60018

OWU is one of the premier consumer dive shows in the US.
This year, COARE will have a booth there, and we'll also
be giving a seminar on ocean-bound waste and our Green
Diver program.

We're looking for volunteers to help staff the booth and
be part of the COARE team.

If you are planning or hoping to attend the OWU show,
this is a great opportunity for you. In exchange for
your assistance, we'll provide admission to the show for
the days you're volunteering.

Contact Christopher at 510-495-7875 or info@coare.org
for more info.


Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you all soon!

Wishing you healthy oceans,
- Christopher Chin


Please feel free to share this newsletter and these
volunteer opportunities with friends, family, and
colleagues who you think might share our passion.
If you received this newsletter second hand, we
encourage you to join the COARE volunteer force by
sending a note to volunteer@coare.org

The Shark Legacy Project

The Shark Legacy Project exists to protect sharks as part of the marine inheritance of all people. Founded by PADI Course Director Peter Wilcox, together with Shark Biologist Giacomo Palavicini, our research aims to assist governments in the establishment of shark sanctuaries.

Our pilot research project launched January 2010 in Roatan, in conjunction with the Roatan Marine Park and DIGIPESCA (Honduras Fisheries Department). The project combines shark diving operators in Honduras with our biologists to determine a dollar value of the sharks to tourism, and so protect them as a valuable marine resource. Recently DIGIPESCA enacted a bill establishing a complete moratorium on fishing of all shark species in Honduras until the research has completed, the government has a better idea of sharks as a resource to its people and a management plan can be established.

Victory number one was recently signed into law, now the research begins!

Want to help?

Visit www.sharklegacyproject.com and sign the petition, spread the word with the links on the site or better yet, come visit Roatan in the Bay Islands of Honduras and dive with us and the sharks!

Shark Legacy Project - Honduras 100% Shark Fishing Ban Enacted

They say big things come in small packages. In the shark world nothing is bigger then governments who enact bans on shark fishing in their waters.

Palau's recent shark fishing ban and the Maldives decision to ban shark fishing in their waters was met with acclaim both in the tourism and shark conservation worlds.

As it turns out other governments were watching, and taking note.

Thanks in part to the Shark Legacy Project headed up by a small and dedicated team in Roatan, Honduras the government just announced they will ban all shark fishing in Honduran waters while they study the issue of shark fishing and the economics of Honduran sharks which, for a Latin American country, is a simply stunning decision.

The next steps will require resources and help from the shark tourism industry and from the research side as well to make this ban a permanent and regional example.

From Peter Wilcox Director of the Shark Legacy Project:

"Thanks Patric - have a major victory down here. After our meetings with DIGIPESCA they pushed up the passing of a bill that has now gone into practice. It puts a moratorium on the fishing of all shark species in all the waters of Honduras! Think that makes Honduras the first in the Caribbean to have a shark sanctuary! Part of the drive behind this measure was to cease use of sharks as a resource until research can be done to evaluate the population/species of sharks here. So finally, a government willing to step in before the problem gets unmanageable. We met with the government this last weekend to discuss how we can assist in this research (as you may be able to guess they do not have much in the way of funding for their own research). We are travelling to Tegucigalpa this week to discuss further research and affiliations to benefit the goals of protecting sharks here."

We would Like to congratulate the Shark Legacy Project and all those who have worked to this point to get the ban in place.

This is very good conservation news indeed.