Shark-finning epidemic...

[AMW]

Although there may be controversy regarding what entails responsible reef-keeping, I think we may all agree that shark-finning is not responsible ocean-keeping!!!
See the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJG7RaLX-DM

(the footage of the finned shark bleeding to death in the aquarium was actually taken last year (2009) by a scuba diver in Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia)

[vaporize]

good one, these commercials need to be aired in Hong Kong and China, not some English version... to the non-target audiences.

And honestly, the bleeding shark is too mild, it need to be shown how it is really done with blood all over the place to show the damages.

[AMW]

good one, these commercials need to be aired in Hong Kong and China, not some English version... to the non-target audiences.

And honestly, the bleeding shark is too mild, it need to be shown how it is really done with blood all over the place to show the damages.

This is what happens when these commercials are aired in China/Hong Kong:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im7W1AnDmgA

[dnov99]

You have to see the movie "Sharkwater"!! It truly is an amazing and sobering look at what the shark fin trade is doing to the shark population. Trust me i have never been so moved by a documentary like this one. You can get it from Netflix too:

http://www.sharkwater.com

[keegoaz]

Really it wont matter all that much if you ask me sharks have been one of the top preditors in the ocean for millions of years i dont think we could get rid of em if we wanted too. People will continue to eat what they always have its part of who they are and how they were rased.

[dnov99]

Really it wont matter all that much if you ask me sharks have been one of the top preditors in the ocean for millions of years i dont think we could get rid of em if we wanted too. People will continue to eat what they always have its part of who they are and how they were rased.

Well its thinking like that, which has caused us to push thousands of creatures of this planet into extinction. Extremely sad and unfortunate if you ask me.

[skabooya]

keegoaz if it doesnt matter that much then explain to me all these endangered shark species.
http://www.shark.ch/Database/EndangeredSharks/index.html

[Octoshark]

Really it wont matter all that much if you ask me sharks have been one of the top preditors in the ocean for millions of years i dont think we could get rid of em if we wanted too. People will continue to eat what they always have its part of who they are and how they were rased.

It doesn't matter if sharks are an apex predator and have been for millions of years if humans are killing tens of millions of sharks every year. Do the math.

[FishBoy05]

It's just a shameless needless thing.

[ackee]

There were less than 2 billion people 100 years ago, 3 billion people 50 years ago, and we are way over 6 billion today. The increase is geometric. On the other hand, the number of sharks is smaller than it has ever been, and the technology for catching them has gotten much more efficient. Perhaps people just continue doing what they have always done, but there are more people, a LOT more, with more on the way, and better equiped to catch every last fish, turtle, snake, clam, shrimp, and anything else that can be eaten or sold. Here in NJ, I've seen vanloads of recent immigrants scraping every last barnacle off bulkheads and ripping up every last mussle in beds that are exposed at low tide. We are consuming our world much faster than it can regrow, especially the seas. We are digging our own graves with our mouths.

[Octoshark]

we are consuming our world much faster than it can regrow, especially the seas. We are digging our own graves with our mouths.

+99

[onsan]

Personally i would never eat shark fin soup because in Oz we have problems with malayasian and indonesian poachers in our waters who cut the fins and throw the rest of the shark away, it's abhorrent.
I wouldn't have a problem if it was part of a managed industry that took stock of the population and used the entire fish rather than culling them just for their fins and if they were a resource properly managed. Being an apex predator though they are a very difficult to sustainably harvest, they usually have a low birth rate and are uneconomical to farm.
The thing that annoys me is that they pillage their own seas and wipe out their sharks and then they come hunting ours.

[dnov99]

If anybody gets a chance rent the movie "The Cove", its about the dolphin slaughter in Taijii Japan. It is beyond sickening!!! It amazes how the Japanese fishing industries absolutely pillage the oceans of every living creature and nothing is done about it. Whales, sharks, dolphins, blue fin tuna. Where does it end??!!!

[Octoshark]

Whale Wars on Discovery is a good example too. One ship slaughtering whales had a big sign saying "Don't worry, we are collecting whales for research"

They obviously weren't...

[dnov99]

Love whale wars!!! Its insane what they do out there. Ramming the boats is crazy. LOL

[AMW]

If anybody gets a chance rent the movie "The Cove", its about the dolphin slaughter in Taijii Japan. It is beyond sickening!!! It amazes how the Japanese fishing industries absolutely pillage the oceans of every living creature and nothing is done about it. Whales, sharks, dolphins, blue fin tuna. Where does it end??!!!

Here is a trailer for "THE COVE"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw5qgVp0jng

[Rossini]

This is a great campaign.
We donated $50 to this great cause.

http://www.sharksavers.org/en/get-involved/ways-you-can-help-save-sharks/613-buy-a-billboard-in-china.html

[Rossini]

Awesome calendar, all money goes to shark and marine conservation.

http://www.bite-back.com/oceans_twelve.htm

[dnov99]

I did the billboard donation also. definitely a great way to stop this awful practice.

[Rossini]

Nice one. :thumbsup:

[screwsloose]

shark savers also has a facebook page. look it up for current news

[keywestcoralboy]

I dont think that finning at sea is ethical, responsible, or a serious problem in our side of the world. Anyone who speaks of a lack of sharks in our country has never been to florida.

[Rossini]

I dont think that finning at sea is ethical, responsible, or a serious problem in our side of the world. Anyone who speaks of a lack of sharks in our country has never been to florida.

I think sharks are being caught all over the world. Either as by-catch from tuna fishing or targeted directley.

In 2007, marine biologists at Dalhousie University in Canada analysed records from fisheries and research vessels dating from the 1970s to 2005 and found evidence for a dramatic fall in shark populations. Tiger sharks and scalloped hammerheads had declined more than 97% since the mid-1980s, while numbers of smooth hammerheads and bull sharks fell 99% off the east coast of the US.

Taken from this article.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/19/great-white-shark-endangered-tiger

[keywestcoralboy]

There is no way that bull sharks have lost 99 percent of their population, that means while spearfishing when i see 4 large bulls in one area i should see 400?????? that doesnt make sense, and since they banned long lineing down here the sharks have become such a nussiance, hook and line fishing is almost useless, everything getts bitten off by one of those wonderrfull endangered sharks i see everyday...

[krak256]

There is no way that bull sharks have lost 99 percent of their population, that means while spearfishing when i see 4 large bulls in one area i should see 400?????? that doesnt make sense, and since they banned long lineing down here the sharks have become such a nussiance, hook and line fishing is almost useless, everything getts bitten off by one of those wonderrfull endangered sharks i see everyday...

somehow i feel more inclined to believe scientific research than your sightings...

[billsreef]

There is no way that bull sharks have lost 99 percent of their population, that means while spearfishing when i see 4 large bulls in one area i should see 400?????? that doesnt make sense, and since they banned long lineing down here the sharks have become such a nussiance, hook and line fishing is almost useless, everything getts bitten off by one of those wonderrfull endangered sharks i see everyday...

Quite frankly, most divers, swimmers and even fisherman don't see most of the sharks that are there. Makes casual observation a lousy measure of actual shark (or any other fish) populations. The one's you see while spearfishing are only the only ones that get close enough for you to see. You can bet there's more that you don't see, and it's those numbers that have declined.

[dnov99]

There is no way that bull sharks have lost 99 percent of their population, that means while spearfishing when i see 4 large bulls in one area i should see 400?????? that doesnt make sense, and since they banned long lineing down here the sharks have become such a nussiance, hook and line fishing is almost useless, everything getts bitten off by one of those wonderrfull endangered sharks i see everyday...

No disrespect, but how can you judge the trend in shark populations from your minisicule area that you have your sightings. The are millions of miles of ocean around the world and you think because you see 4 sharks that the population isnt decreasing as said??? I have to disagree.

[keywestcoralboy]

believe what you want, skewed 3 year old research

[keywestcoralboy]

By the way my original post mentioned this side of the world haveing sharks not that other countries dont rape their oceans i dont speak for them i speak for the hundred mile range i dive, fish, photograph,

[Rossini]

By the way my original post mentioned this side of the world haveing sharks not that other countries dont rape their oceans i dont speak for them i speak for the hundred mile range i dive, fish, photograph,



The study says the east coast, not a single 100 mile stretch of coast. :fun4:

[Kates]

I have seen a couple documentaries recently that have mentioned Bull sharks' ability to adapt very well to changing environments, i.e. they eat almost anything, can swim miles upriver into fresh water to find prey, and thus are actually one of the few species of shark that seem able to deal with the pressures on shark populations. So it doesn't surprise me that keywestcoralboy sees plenty of bull sharks. I'd prob die of fright just seeing a big shark swimming near me like that, it must be exhilarating tho!