Help End Shark Finning and the sale of Shark Products

[quikcolin]

Well I'm happy to report that both London, ON and Pickering, ON are now all "FIN FREE"!!!

As we speak it looks like United Conservationists don't just have Canadian cities on their list... but the ENTIRE COUNTRY!

Sign The Petition:

With a lot of support, I will be surprised if a "FIN FREE CANADA" doesn't happen.... at the moment, Toronto, Brantford, Mississauga (huge asian population), London and Pickering are all Fin Free... now we're onto the country.

Again, this just proves that "a few good people" can make a difference!

For more information, or how to get involved check out Rob Stewarts site (the film maker of SharkWater)

United Conservationists

Colin

 

[Mossman]

Mississauga (huge asian population)

[TABLE="class: wikitable"]


[TR]
[TD]Chinese[/TD]
[TD]46,120[/TD]
[/TR]


[/TABLE]


"With an estimated population of 734,000"

If that's huge, I have a small bridge to sell you.

Versus:

"In the 1980s, an influx of immigrants from Hong Kong in anticipation of the transfer of sovereignty from the United Kingdom to China, combined with an increase in immigrants from mainland China and previous immigrants from Taiwan, established in Vancouver one of the highest concentrations of ethnic Chinese residents in North America."

"Today the Chinese are the largest visible ethnic group in the city, with a diverse Chinese-speaking community, and several languages, including Cantonese and Mandarin.^{http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/#cite_note-GVB-29}"
[TABLE="class: wikitable sortable jquery-tablesorter"]


[TR]
[TD]Chinese[/TD]
[TD]402,000[/TD]
[/TR]


[/TABLE]

(source: wikipedia.com)

Good luck with that petition!

Most Americans wouldn't even know Canada existed if it weren't sitting on our heads.

 

[quikcolin]

[TABLE="class: wikitable"]
[TR]
[TD]Chinese[/TD]
[TD]46,120[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]


"With an estimated population of 734,000"

If that's huge, I have a small bridge to sell you.

Versus:

"In the 1980s, an influx of immigrants from Hong Kong in anticipation of the transfer of sovereignty from the United Kingdom to China, combined with an increase in immigrants from mainland China and previous immigrants from Taiwan, established in Vancouver one of the highest concentrations of ethnic Chinese residents in North America."

"Today the Chinese are the largest visible ethnic group in the city, with a diverse Chinese-speaking community, and several languages, including Cantonese and Mandarin."
[TABLE="class: wikitable sortable jquery-tablesorter"]
[TR]
[TD]Chinese[/TD]
[TD]402,000[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

(source: wikipedia.com)

Good luck with that petition!

Most Americans wouldn't even know Canada existed if it weren't sitting on our heads.

Thanks very much for taking the time to let me know that Vancouver has a large Asian population... I think everyone on planet earth is aware of that.

If you want to get technical about it... the City of Toronto passed the ban 38-4... and Toronto DOES have a large Asian population...

(From Wikipedia)

City of Toronto, ON Canada - Population 5,072,075 (in 2006)
27% Asian population consisting of 1,390,530 people (again in 2006)

It was a breeze passing the ban in Toronto, so Vancouver shouldn't be a big issue. But truthfully this needs to be tackled at a federal level, and we're doing just that. We are taking this to the entire country - therefore even IF Vancouver didn't pass the ban, sooner or later all of Canada will be "Fin Free" therefore so will Vancouver! The wheels are in motion as we speak, and I look forward to Canada supporting the end of the finning industry.

I have to assume you're against this? Or not interested in seeing change? Why else would you choose to be soo argumentative? You think it's right that we kill 73,000,000 sharks a year... most of the time, just for their fins??? Slaughtering them to the point of extinction? (there are hundreds of species of sharks that are already extinct due to finning), simply for a soup? This is no different than the way we used to hunt for ivory tusks... you don't see much of that going on anymore do you? No, because we realized it wasn't right. A few stood up against it, then some more, and before you know it most of the world was aware of the issues surrounding the killing of elephants for their tusks. The issues surrounding sharks and the finning industry are no different (except on a much larger level). I'm in no way a "tree hugger" but if you really understood what was happening to our sharks, you would have to be pretty heartless to not care. The attitude you're taking is the exact opposite of what we need, and thankfully there are millions of people in this world that are standing up and really making a difference.

I have to also assume you don't care much for Canada either? Truth is, if Canada does pass this ban (like many other countries already have) then more and more will follow.

For the records - The United States of America is taking strides to end the finning industry as well.... this is from Wikipedia "In January 2011, President Barack Obama signed the Shark Conservation Act into law to close the loopholes of the 2000 Shark Finning Prohibition Act. Specifically, the new law prohibits any boat to carry shark fins without the corresponding number and weight of carcasses, and all sharks must be brought to port with their fins attached."

 

[Mossman]

Thanks very much for taking the time to let me know that Vancouver has a large Asian population... I think everyone on planet earth is aware of that.
If you want to get technical about it... the City of Toronto passed the ban 38-4... and Toronto DOES have a large Asian population...

Surely you don't think all Asians are the same? It's the Chinese who fin the sharks. It's Vancouver that has the larger Chinese population. I have no doubt you'll get help from Thai Vancouverites, Japanese Vancouvarians, and Indonesia Vancouveros, but the Chinese that just emigrated from Hong Kong to open up shark fin soup kitchens in Vancouver? Good luck with that, as I said.

I have to assume you're against this? Or not interested in seeing change? Why else would you choose to be soo argumentative? You think it's right that we kill 73,000,000 sharks a year...

That would be a very dumb assumption and not at all logically derived in any way or form from the content of my posts here.

I am against "online petitions" because they are worthless in the face of the Chinese government and the many Chinese millionaires and billionaires that profit from the shark fin trade, who simply don't give a damn that a handful of divers care about sharks because they're so cool to see underwater (and the handful of environmentalists concerned about the effect on the world's oceans when you take away the apex predator). Cyber-petitions didn't effect the bans in Toronto, California, et al., it was people on the ground working with concerned legislators and a growing number of enlightened seafood consumers who made those happen. If you really want to do something, do something. Signing a cyber-petition and crowing about it is about the closest thing to not doing something that it's possible to do without outright eating shark fin soup.

 

[quikcolin]

That would be a very dumb assumption and not at all logically derived in any way or form from the content of my posts here.

Really it isn't. You're "negative" and "good luck with that" attitude says quite a bit. I'm going to go out on a limb and just take you as one of those argumentative types. I actually think you do care, judging from your avatar pic and the dolphin picture in your profile... so whats with all the negativity? Do you really think it helps?

I agree with you. The people on the ground (myself being one of them) do make a difference. Where I disagree with you is that online petitions don't make a difference. They do. In Canada, on a municipal level and federal level these petitions are taken into consideration and can definitly make a city Councillor take a double take. Everything that we're doing combined is making a difference. Maybe the "ground work" is the most influential, but that's not to say that online petitions are a waste of time.

This argument could run in circles for ever. Bottom line is that people are either for it, or against it. If you're for it, then support it... whether that's from behind your computer monitor signing petitions, or out in your community on foot spreading the word. If you're against it... well I'm sorry to hear that.

 

[Dave.Dives]

Hey Quick Colin Great to see you still on this thread and taking them all on.

Let me help with the Nay Sayers; Petitions help spread the word even amongst the general public weather the government acts on them or not – this leads to sustained pressure building over time and eventually action. Are Petitions useful? You bet your ass they are.


Also see this link between shark fins and mercury ( Sharks can kill you slowly and painfully. » » Tropical Research and Conservation Centre Tropical Research and Conservation Centre) its a good article to spread around as it is well founded and spells out the risks. At the end of the day if somebody is twisted enough to continue eating shark fins knowing the damage they are directly causing by supporting the market, then it looks like nature will have the last laugh - hard to eat soup when the spoons shaking like a spastic eel.

Cheers Dave.

 

[quikcolin]

That's a great video Dave! Hard to believe that some people still insist on eating shark fin soup.... you're right, they must be "twisted"

 

[highdesert]

Surely you don't think all Asians are the same? It's the Chinese who fin the sharks. It's Vancouver that has the larger Chinese population. I have no doubt you'll get help from Thai Vancouverites, Japanese Vancouvarians, and Indonesia Vancouveros, but the Chinese that just emigrated from Hong Kong to open up shark fin soup kitchens in Vancouver? Good luck with that, as I said.

WildAid | Federal Shark Fin Ban Introduced in Canada

Is Shark Fin Slowly Becoming Passé in Hong Kong? | Ecocentric | TIME.com

Taiwan to Enact Asia's First Ban on Shark Finning | NewsFeed | TIME.com

PS - Mossman ... I think your take on online petitions is dead wrong ... but with your negative attitude, it gives you an easy out on the issue.

 

[Mossman]

WildAid | Federal Shark Fin Ban Introduced in Canada

Is Shark Fin Slowly Becoming Passé in Hong Kong? | Ecocentric | TIME.com

Taiwan to Enact Asia's First Ban on Shark Finning | NewsFeed | TIME.com

PS - Mossman ... I think your take on online petitions is dead wrong ... but with your negative attitude, it gives you an easy out on the issue.

No, the easy out is to sign an online petition and rest satisfied that one has done all one can from one's armchair.

How's that petition to Beijing going? I'm sure it has China really worried.

 

[highdesert]

No, the easy out is to sign an online petition and rest satisfied that one has done all one can from one's armchair.

How's that petition to Beijing going? I'm sure it has China really worried.

Do please edify us with all of the efforts you have made on this issue. I'm excited to learn about them.