Help End Shark Finning and the sale of Shark Products

[buddhasummer]

MMMMM, mercury. I was raised along the Ohio river downstream of Pittsburg on the Ohio side. My parents were Catholics so that meant fish on Fridays. We always ate catfish from the river, supposedly fish with the highest mercury content in the country in those days. Mom lived to be 89, the old man 84 and her five sisters in their late 80's are all still going. Grammy died at 94. Grampa made it to 77 but he was gassed two times in WWI so his health was always a problem. I'm 72 and have two bros and two sissies between 67 and 75, none of us having any major health problems to speak of except the natural stuff that comes with age. With all that in mind, I don't think that a little mercury is all that bad for you.

I heard mercury has a negative effect on IQ.

 

[divergal65]

More evidence sharks are in real trouble:

New analysis confirms sharks are in trouble

 

[lmorin]

Report about a massive shark kill (3000+ sharks) in the Gulf yesterday on NPR. Black tips, bonnet heads and sharp noses, all tangled in miles of illegal nets.

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

If multi-national corporations wants to go to china and exploit its population and have a by-product a small niche of capitalist elite that will conspicuously consume whatever it wants, then it is shark fin that they will wants, not just beemers and rolexes.

If the South did not decide to secede from the US, we might still be consuming slavery.

Huh ...?

Everybody has their conspicuous ways to consume in order to show off one's wealth, whether it is drinking $1000 bottle of wines, eating bluefin tuna's fatty belly, or slurping up shark fins. Out of 1.3 billion people in kleptocratic china, just creating 50 million elites would cause them to want what they always wanted but never could before.

As to the 2nd statement, the change has to come from within. Just like the drug trade. You can stop the production or the route of transportation from one place, but as long as there is demand, it will keep flowing.

 

[divergal65]

It looks like the California anti shark fin bill is only one signature away from being signed into law:

California Shark Fin Ban One Signature Away from Becoming Law | Change.org News

I would urge anyone else here in California to please consider sending Gov. Brown a message to sign the bill not only on behalf of sharks , but all other marine life that would be negatively affected if the senseless slaughter of these crucial top predators is allowed to continue unabated.

His phone number and email address are here:

Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. - Contact

 

[Doc Harry]

I guess that it will be cattle and pigs next.

You know what they say.....

 

[quikcolin]

I personally can't get over the ignorance some people are exhibiting here... Not to mention how heartless some are acting.

If a shark was a furry, cuddly animal like a dog, cat etc, the world would be up in arms about this epidemic. Now, I'm happy to see all the efforts put fourth over the past few years to stop the finning trade. Each step (some which may be small) are all steps needed to eventually end this nightmare. I just pray we can end it before it's too late. The finning trade should be a criminal act worldwide. No species should be decimated to the verge of extinction like the sharks have been... hasn't mankind learned anything from our past?

To all of you who think this isn't "controllable" or "stoppable" you're wrong. If the the finning trade continues to become common knowledge among the general public then we will continue to see finning banned around the world. It's already happening, and most countries are following suit... that has to say something about the sheer size of the issue we're dealing with.

Anyone who isn't totally aware of the issues at hand should purchase or even download (torrent - as mentioned) SharkWater... it sheds light on the issues surrounding the shark fin trade, that sharks aren't the "Jaws Monsters" that Hollywood has led us to believe - and how it's affecting our ecosystem.

 

[divergal65]

More good news- Marshall Islands forms largest shark protection zone in world:

BBC News - Vast shark sanctuary created in Pacific

 

[Scuba_Noob]

Report about a massive shark kill (3000+ sharks) in the Gulf yesterday on NPR. Black tips, bonnet heads and sharp noses, all tangled in miles of illegal nets.

It's sad how when you search for it on Google (i.e., using Gulf of Mexico and shark), most of the articles are about shark attacks. You have to search up NPR, shark, and Gulf of Mexico in order to actually get to the article about 3000+ shark deaths...and there's only two news articles about this incident (one of which is just a blurb on a blog).

An entire generation of sharks in the area and barely any notice.

 

[buddhasummer]

I personally can't get over the ignorance some people are exhibiting here... Not to mention how heartless some are acting.

If a shark was a furry, cuddly animal like a dog, cat etc, the world would be up in arms about this epidemic. Now, I'm happy to see all the efforts put fourth over the past few years to stop the finning trade. Each step (some which may be small) are all steps needed to eventually end this nightmare. I just pray we can end it before it's too late. The finning trade should be a criminal act worldwide. No species should be decimated to the verge of extinction like the sharks have been... hasn't mankind learned anything from our past?

To all of you who think this isn't "controllable" or "stoppable" you're wrong. If the the finning trade continues to become common knowledge among the general public then we will continue to see finning banned around the world. It's already happening, and most countries are following suit... that has to say something about the sheer size of the issue we're dealing with.

Anyone who isn't totally aware of the issues at hand should purchase or even download (torrent - as mentioned) SharkWater... it sheds light on the issues surrounding the shark fin trade, that sharks aren't the "Jaws Monsters" that Hollywood has led us to believe - and how it's affecting our ecosystem.

Yes I too was very disheartened at the apparent ignorance, although I suspect some are just being deliberately antagonistic...but on a brighter note there are many on this thread who share the same sentiment and are trying to do something. As I have previously said just because something "seems" impossible it is no reason to sit back and do nothing, sure as eggs apathy will get you no where, every journey starts with one step. I for one will never give up trying.