Taiwan civic groups protest chain stores selling shark-fin soup

Smart direct action protests begin with indigenous populations. The issue of sharks fin soup has been a tricky one with the perception of Westerns trying to influence a primarily Asian cultural issue.

Asians, for good reason, are resistant to heavy handed direct action eco push by outsiders. A fact many within the Western shark conservation community have discovered first hand over the years.

So, how do you change destructive indigenous cultural practices?

The IUCN has an idea, protesting and messaging with local populations:

"Lured by high profits, fishermen kill sharks only for their fins. They cut off shark's fins and dump the sharks into the sea and let them bleed to death," said Wang Yu-min, director of the Environment & Animal Society of Taiwan. "Each year, some 4,000 to 7,000 sharks are killed for their fins. The International Union for Conservation of Nature warned that 111 species of shark are being threatened, of which 20 species are seriously threatened and 25 species face
extinction," she said.


Complete Story.

Fuchsia Dunlop BBC - Refusing Sharks Fin

The BBC has a first rate story today on the culture of shark fin soup and one woman's determination to end it's acceptance at the dinner table.

It is a classic tale of east vs west mentalities with a surprising twist at the end. The shark conservation movement may just end the practice of eating sharks fin soup "one table sized international incident" at a time:

"There was an awkward silence. My dinner companions had not heard this kind of stuff before and certainly not from me, who they know as the Englishwoman who eats everything."

Complete Story.

SFMI catches the eye of “Sportfishing Magazine”

September 1, 2009
By Doug Olander (More articles by this author)

That news item caught my attention when I saw it online. It’s no secret that many species of large sharks are in varying degrees of trouble worldwide. The primary culprit is the by-now infamous practice of finning — hacking off the fins of sharks (often while they’re still alive) and tossing the body back to sink and decompose on the ocean floor.

The practice has been widely banned but
(a) not before many shark stocks were severely impacted;
(b) it’s still legal in many areas; and
(c) it’s still widely practiced (in largely unpatrolled waters) where it’s not legal.

The motivation for the barbaric and wasteful practice is an old one: greed.

Shark fins bring relatively big bucks on the Asian market: think shark-fin soup. A few pounds of fins are worth more than a few hundred pounds of shark meat — and even a small boat can bring in a lot of fins, representing tons of dead sharks.

Recent estimates have put that tonnage of sharks killed each year for their fins as high as 100 million; however, a recent study suggests a figure of about 38 million tons. Either way, it bodes ill for these ecologically vital apex predators.

In this context, it’s interesting to see the formation of the nonprofit group Shark-Free Marinas (www.sharkfreemarinas.com), intent on “reducing worldwide shark mortality” by persuading marinas to sign on with a pledge to prohibit the landing of any shark.

Of course, the recreational fishery — even at the half-million sharks killed per year by one estimate — represents but a fraction of the worldwide shark-finning massacre. Some might argue that for this very reason, it’s pointless to bother even trying to dissuade anglers from bringing back large sharks to hang up on the scales for a weight and photo or to score points in a shark tournament.

Miami’s famous and (more often) infamous skipper, Mark the Shark, might be one who’d make that argument. Well known for encouraging his clients to kill just about any large shark they hook, the ironically self-named skipper claims on his website that thanks to his unequalled expertise on capturing sharks, his dead sharks have “been a great benifit [sic] to science.”

Those trying to convince marinas worldwide to forbid off-loading large dead sharks would say otherwise. Their efforts have a long way to go, but several marinas — in the United States, Bahamas and Fiji — had signed on as of this writing.

Recently, other actions suggest an increasing awareness among the mainstream recreational-fishing community that populations of large, slow-growing sharks are in a tenuous position (with the National Marine Fisheries Service officially considering most species overfished in the Atlantic) and need help. And, of course, in addition to doing what they feel is the right thing, many believe it’s the smart thing.

While slaughtering and hanging up dead sharks so a client can get a photo and tourists can gawk may work for Mark the Shark, a broader view is that hanging up big, dead sharks fosters a public perception of recreational fishing as a sport of greed and carnage and plays right into the hands of concerned, hard-core green groups trying to close off the ocean to angling.

For this reason, it was gratifying to learn recently that the International Game Fish Association is considering a proposal — submitted by IGFA board member Guy Harvey — to stop keeping world records for tiger sharks and great hammerheads.

Also, Gray’s Taxidermy, one of the largest providers of fish mounts, has finally announced that it would no longer accept sharks or any parts of them for fish mounts, finally joining some other progressive taxidermists who years ago began making only fiberglass-replica mounts. Charter skippers who work with Gray’s have lost one excuse to kill sharks.

It seems that the pendulum among sport fishermen continues to swing gradually toward not killing large sharks. But it has a long way to go. Among charter skippers and some private boaters, there remains the sentiment that killing an occasional large shark is insignificant in the scheme of things and that as long as the only fish killed are taken legally, doing so bears no shame. In fact, there are most assuredly those (both among recreational fishermen and the general public) who feel the only good shark is a dead shark.

I admit I’m not one of those sharing that mentality. I applaud shark-free marinas for their efforts. Ditto anglers who carry cameras and, should they wrestle in a huge shark, take home photos of the great fish boat-side — before its successful release. Those who find it profitable to hang up dead sharks may help their income in the short term but, in the long term, can only hurt everyone else who loves the sport of fishing.

Original article here

Isla Guadalupe Trip Update 8.20.2008

The old saying "It aint' over till the fat lady sings" was in full force today as the Mexican Navy arrived and proceeded to board all the vessels at Point Norte, Isla Guadalupe.

This is what we had feared. The final edict after many months of back and forth conversations and negotiations with various government agencies was absolutely "No Chumming".

Unfortunately Mexico has chosen to deliver this final message on site and at the beginning of the 2008 shark diving season with an actual Navy Frigate.

This leaves us as eco tour operators in an unusual spot and our divers wondering what's next?

In the short term no chumming means that while sharks will be seen this year (they are extremely curious animals and will come-non chummed-to the cages) we will be slower than usual. That's the short term.

The long term prognosis is grim indeed. Mexico needs shark tourism, it also needs to be benefited by shark tourism. Right now it is not benefiting. Right now divers pay the equivalent of $20.00 USD for permits to enter the Bio Sphere and that's it. They should be receiving a whole lot more. We're in full agreement with those within Mexico who see it that way.

Additionally, the very real specter of rampant shark fishing at this site once shark diving operations fade away is something that must be contended with. You may say it would never happen here, but 2.5 tons of shark fins were taken from the Socorro's this spring-right under the nose of the Mexican Navy base stationed at that Bio Sphere.

This is a clarion call. If Mexico is successful in essentially gutting the relatively nascent 3.1 million dollar white shark dive tour industry and these vessels cannot continue to educate divers, support field research, and continue operating in a sustainable manner-we will lose upwards to 30% of the entire Western Pacific White shark population to shark fishing in a matter of two years.

Left to their own devices shark fishermen have a strong financial incentive to harvest sharks even within protected Bio Spheres. We will submit to you that Mexico's government has their guns turned on the wrong people at this point.

Shark Finning-A big idea to "Chew On"

A while back we had a conversation with the CEO of Wild Aid Peter Knights. Wild Aid is the "master of the message" getting major players in the entertainment and sports world to come forward and do pro wildlife PSA's (Public service announcements).

We spoke about an idea we had about viral PSA's for a cash prize. Here's how it works. In the USA alone there are hundreds of small, upcoming, digital media production houses all looking for work. These folks are, in a word, brilliant-but they lack the main stream exposure they need to get the entire world to see their talent.

What if someone offered a $50,000 cash prize for the best anti shark finning viral video based on several criteria, one of which would be the number of downloads.

It's called a force multiplier. Now hundreds of PSA's that catch the eye and showcase raw digital talent would be all over the place, spreading the message in multiple languages, and multiple formats-being seen by the world.

$50,000 may seem like a lot-but when you consider a single Wild Aid PSA has a donated value of many hundreds of thousands, you get the idea. Here's an example of a commercial shark video that has become viral. Imagine if you changed the message slightly how many people would be affected. By recent counts 87,000 and growing:

Shark Stewards of The Reef-Documentary Review

Sharks: Stewards of the Reef a shark documentary by Trillium Films and filmmaker David McGuire is perhaps one of the most in depth and visually appealing shark documentaries to hit the screens in the past three years. Filmmaker McGuire weaves a fascinating tale of reef sharks and reef ecology in pristine locals and gin clear waters.

These are the kind of encounters with sharks that change peoples perception of them. Beautiful reef sharks gliding over colorful reefs-with a simply melodic and haunting sound track to accompany the viewers voyage. McGuire's film introduces you to a host of local flavor and tropical locals in all it's greens and blues and sunset glories.

Then, in a wrenching transition, the viewers are taken on a darker voyage, that of sharks final destination into the holds of ships as nothing more than dried fins. In the world of complex eco systems analysis McGuire and his crew manage to distill the sharks place in this world down to the easiest and most understandable format using shark biologists and Peter Knights CEO of Wildaid as the primary story weavers.

The imagery he chooses to tell the tale of this unrelenting harvest is brutal and savage and serves as a wake up to the viewer. Overall the story resolves to one of a clarion call to action, reef sharks, like many other species of sharks are often the first species to be harvested as poor, local fishermen, are enticed by the lure of quick dollars and waiting factory ships off shore.

Accomplishing one solid message in any wildlife documentary is a herculean task, weaving a complete and understandable tapestry is just pure shark viewing magic!

Palladium Neodymium-Hope For Sharks

What you are looking at may just save millions of sharks in the coming years. Researchers have discovered some metals actually cause sharks to be "repulsed" in salt water (if you live in a canal region with loads of Bull sharks, sorry)

Thanks Underwater Times for this story.

Sharks in captivity avoid metals that react with seawater to produce an electric field, a behavior that may help fishery biologists develop a strategy to reduce the bycatch of sharks in longline gear.

Shark bycatch is an increasing priority worldwide given diminished populations of many shark species, and because sharks compete with target species for baited lines, reducing fishing efficiency and increasing operating costs.

A recent study by NOAA scientists and colleagues on captive juvenile sandbar sharks showed the presence of an electropositive alloy, in this case palladium neodymium, clearly altered the swimming patterns of individual animals and temporarily deterred feeding in groups of sharks.

King Diamond Incident-Overturned

What started in 2002 as one of the biggest hauls of shark fins in US waters and known in the eco community as the King Diamond Two Incident has ended this week in US courts with a stunning court reversal:

SAN DIEGO, 2002-Authorities seized a Hawaii-based fishing vessel with at least 12 tons of illegally harvested shark fins on board, the Coast Guard said yesterday.

The 82-foot King Diamond II, with a five-member crew, was stopped and searched about 350 miles southeast of Acapulco, Mexico, and towed to San Diego.

The crew of the Kind Diamond II, based in Honolulu, is suspected of buying shark fins from other fishing vessels while at sea in violation of a U.S. law adopted in 2000.

"Wasteful fishing practices can lead to devastation of vital living marine resources and economic hardship," said Dale Jones, the chief of law enforcement for the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The ship was stopped by a U.S. Navy ship and searched by a Coast Guard law enforcement detachment on Aug. 13. It was towed to San Diego on Friday by a Coast Guard cutter.

Agents from the fisheries service were trying to determine the exact amount of shark fin stored in the hold, and the amount could be as high as 35 tons, said Paul Ortiz, a senior enforcement attorney for the fisheries service.

Today a San Francisco appeals court judge overturned the earlier ruling in a stunning upset for eco groups and law enforement, opening the way for a counter lawsuit by the shark finners against NOAA, the US Navy, and others involved with the original seizure :

The company, Tai Loong Hong Marine Products Ltd., in the summer of 2002 chartered an American cargo ship that picked up the 32 tons of shark fins from 20 other vessels on the high seas. The company's plan was to deliver the fins to Guatemala. U.S. Coast Guard officials boarded the ship, escorted it to San Diego and sought to confiscate the cargo, valued at $619,000, on the ground that the law had been violated. But the appeals court said the law doesn't give notice that a cargo ship would be considered a fishing vessel aiding in shark finning.