Australian Shark Conservation - Makos Back on the Grill

One of the most perplexing issues with modern shark conservation is regional and local government buy in. Too often rules and regulations that protect shark species take years of legislative process, time, money, and energy to adopt.

And all too often we see a watering down or outright reversals of conservation rules and regulations. Such was the case in Australia this week, where new laws governing the take of mako shark were overturned by government slight of hand and a shameless buckling to commercial fishing pressures.

That's why we developed and support the Shark Free Marinas Initiative as an effective method to bypass government while enacting shark conservation measures.

The SFMI works with direct source points of shark traffic creating a win-win with local marinas to request that sharks are not landed at their facilities.

The metrics are there. In the USA alone 400,000 sport caught sharks arrive at marinas each year (NOAA) With just 50% of marinas in the USA adopting the SFMI we could save 200,000 sharks a year. Over the planet many hundreds of thousands more while educating fishermen to catch and release ethics making a shark fishery sustainable, without any government buy in at all.

A case study for modern shark conservation and one that has already seen 70% of Fiji go Shark Free with the help of PADI Project Aware, Stuart Gow and others.

Shark Trust Wines - Stocking up at $3.00?

Around this time of year we stock up on Shark Trust Wines. With the holiday season just around the corner, gifts, parties, and good old fashioned nights at home with a roaring fire call for wine...and lot's of it!

Melanie Marks, CEO of Shark Trust Wines emailed us this week with her seasonal offer to all our shark folks out there and yes, we know you like to drink.

For a limited time Shark Trust Wines is offering an outstanding deal for their 2007 Great White Chardonnay from Western cape, South Africa.

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, they are offering it at $3 a bottle.

Yes, that is correct - 70% OFF. Order for holiday gifts, your company holiday party, or just stock up your wine cellar. With this offer, you must buy by the case (12 bottles) and be willing to pick up the wine at the warehouse in Petaluma.

Get a group of friends to order together and make one trip to the warehouse. Please contact Melanie directly to order and make arrangements for pick up.

619-994-5933 or marks@sharktrustwines.com

Happy Holidays!

Melaine Marks - Shark Trust Wines

"Lurking With Intent" - Op Ed

Responding to a recent tsunami of bad shark press in Australia, South Africa, and elsewhere this month, writer Linley Boniface takes on the issue of sharks and the media:

I never thought I'd say this, but I am bored with sharks. This summer, it has been impossible to open a newspaper or turn on the TV without being subjected to yet another daring shark escape story.

On closer inspection, these yarns have invariably turned out to involve nothing more thrilling than an exceptionally timorous surfer paddling for safety after spotting a fishy shadow pottering quietly along the shoreline, minding its own business.

While sharks in Australia do, as the Australians rather wonderfully say, "take" the occasional swimmer, Kiwi sharks are about as predatory as a newborn ladybug. Occasionally, a shark will accidentally graze a surfer's calf with a tooth, while yawning: cue national panic and the mass closure of beaches.

Silliest of the many absurd shark reports the media has pestered us with this summer was one from Radio New Zealand. The national broadcaster quoted Constable John Paul Tremain as urging people to stay away from beaches near Dunedin because a large shark had allegedly chased a couple of surfers from the water.

RNZ said Constable Tremain did not know the "exact size or breed of shark" - terrifying news in itself; someone is breeding the things! - but was convinced it was "lurking with intent".

Lurking with intent? Intent to do what? The sea is where sharks live: sharks no more lurk in the sea than I lurk in my house.

Complete Story