Global shark conservation, and then there's Australia

The head of a gravid Tiger being dumped. Image Michael Ross

A 12 foot Tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) was caught on drumlines off the Gold Coast of Australia this week with authorities "shooing away" photographers in an apparent attempt to conceal the size of the animal.

The female Tiger was found to have 30 pups inside her.

We have covered the ongoing devastating effects of drumlines on shark off the Gold Coast for several years, and it's not just an Australian problem with South Africa employing the same techniques to manage their regional "shark issues".

What makes today's story particularly frustrating from both a conservation and shark diving industry perspective is the apparent shark psychosis that Australian management officials suffer from. On one coast it is o.k to kill white sharks, tigers and just about any other shark species that is unfortunate enough to bite down on baited hooks, while on other coast where tourism with sharks generates million of dollars sustainably, authorities are attempting to shut some operations down and reduce the numbers of days they can operate - all in an effort to protect sharks.

White shark caught on Gold Coast drumline in 2009

Really?

While the rest of the planet marches headlong into new an uncharted territory for shark conservation with the addition of millions of square miles of shark sanctuaries, byzantine hold outs like Australia and South Africa are setting new lows for shark management policies.

Your either protecting sharks, or not.

In Australia it would seem that at least when sharks are commercialized sustainably with conservation minded shark diving operations, sharks need to be studied, protected, and managed. But in areas where humans demand high dollar value for beachfront housing and waters to wade in, shark conservation begins and ends with a baited hook.

Welcome to the world of Australian shark management, if you're a shark, take a left turn at Sydney, because that's the only way you'll survive Gold Coast shark management.

Say it ain't so Gordon Ramsay!

Apparently just a few months prior to celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay's foray into the world of shark conservation he was on vacation in Florida...killing sharks.

This image is from a video circulating through the media of Ramsay catching not one, but two, bulls sharks off the coast of Florida, including a nine foot hammerhead in a two day shark fishing orgy of bad taste - at least one of the sharks was mounted at Ramsay's request, all were killed.

Are you kidding?

We're sure there will be a few within the shark world who tend to play in the grey areas of conscience and good taste who will continue to support Ramsay and his expose of the shark finning world, but we're a tad disappointed.

Like we have long said for many who fail to talk the talk and walk the walk in our industry, "you cannot open an animal shelter if, in fact, you abuse animals".

Clearly Mr. Gordon Ramsay has much to atone for and his media team should be fired.

Heck, he should be fired.