Rosie O'Donnell the Shark murderer. And Mark the Shark charters

[Splitlip]

Glad you would support a sustainable harvest, because that is exactly how it should work, and is working. It's the basis of the entire reason Mark the Shark is so irrelevant.

So where in USA controlled waters do you see these arbitrary numbers combined with government subsidaries you are referring to? Is it related to sharks or are you speaking in terms of something else like lobster fishing? If you have some links to something I'd be interested in getting some education on it.

I think any of us who have watched some of the recent popular shows on the discovery channel have gotten some education that there is some very specific sustainable harvest going on. Watching something like The Deadliest Catch you become very aware about it, since every show is centered around a specific crab season, there is lots of discussion of quotas and all the rules and regulations regarding everything they do. Based on the success they are having it sure appears on the surface that there is a very good and working sustainable harvest going on in regard to Alaskan crab waters.

This is not the crab forum.

 

[merxlin]

The guy has been trolling since he joined this thread. Either that or he is living on another planet.

You know what? That's OK. Because for every seemingly uneducated or misguided post he makes, we get to present our side and discredit them and or him. We also get to put facts and opinions out here that may be educational to many people, and hopefully help create the public awareness and action that will be needed to stop sharks from disappearing all together.

I get it: People like the thrill of the hunt, and it is in our nature. Now to me this type of fishing is not a sport at all. But some still need that in their lives. It can be done responsibly. It's the idiots like Mark the Shark that make it all seem so terribly wrong.

 

[Splitlip]

I don't know a single diver nor dive op that is so misinformed as a couple of the posters in this thread. That goes for folks I met here as well.

 

[adurso]

I don't know a single diver nor dive op that is so misinformed as a couple of the posters here. That goes for folks I met here as well.

I have met any number of divers who are clueless about almost everything....

Think of the rototilling, grab everything, break the coral, squeeze the puffer divers...is it a stretch to think they may have different ideas of predation contribution to ecological balance?

 

[Splitlip]

I guess living where I live and associating with local divers makes a difference. Although as I am thinking of it, I have pulled tourist divers off turtles and thumped a few for standing on coral.

 

[smellzlikefish]

I would agree if Mark the Shark was the only fisherman going after sharks, but he's not and thus the additive depletion from everybody like him (including shark finning) contributes to the problem of overfishing the shark resource. What's worse is he glorifies it by hanging the wasted carcasses on the docks. I find no reason to go leaping to his defense on this matter.

Arbitrary numbers are derived partially from the data calculated by scientists making their best guess about the status of a fishery. Unfortunately, biases abound for any method of calculating fishery health. And while there are undeniably healthy fisheries that are harvested sustainably, the data I've seen says that the shark fishery, especially on the American east coast and Gulf of Mexico, is not one of them and so I feel the need to try encouraging change in anyone contributing to it, either by one shark or a thousand.

Please remember when watching the Discovery Channel shows that you are getting a very one-sided view through the eyes of the commercial fishers. They, too, have an important story to tell, which is why the job of a fisheries policy-maker is one of balancing the best available science with supply, livelihood of the fishery, and politics. As a scientist, I think we would all benefit in the long run from erring on the side of conservation, but my opinion isn't the only one floating around out there.

As for the subsidies, I was referring to commercial fishing in general. I found this for a start:On The Hook: Commercial Fishing Reaps Billions | Environmental Working Group I apologize for the obvious slant of the hosting website (Environmental Working Group), but they claim $6.4 billion have been paid by U.S. taxpayers to support fishery subsidies. That's a lot of yearly wages that weren't earned.

 

[Allison Finch]

It must be nice to live in a fantasy world, where you pretend there is no stewardship of sharks going on, and that there is no differentiation between responsible harvesting of resources that is carefully overseen and managed versus irresponsible exploitation of a species.

So, explain who is providing "stewardship" of the sport shark fisherman and finners. Please show studies of what constitutes "responsible harvesting of sharks". All the studies I have read have pointed out that the harvesting is grossly overreaching the abilities of the sharks populations to recover. Just WHO is carefully overseeing and managing the shark population census?

Without data, your accusations are as irresponsible as your thesis.

Commercial fishing studies of many food fisheries have been maintained and fishing seasons and quotas set accordingly. I have never seen any such study OR controls in place for sharks. Please post links to these studies.....if you can.

 

[Splitlip]

So, explain who is providing "stewardship" of the sport shark fisherman and finners. Please show studies of what constitutes "responsible harvesting of sharks". All the studies I have read have pointed out that the harvesting is grossly overreaching the abilities of the sharks populations to recover. Just WHO is carefully overseeing and managing the shark population census?

Without data, your accusations are as irresponsible as your thesis.

Commercial fishing studies of many food fisheries have been maintained and fishing seasons and quotas set accordingly. I have never seen any such study OR controls in place for sharks. Please post links to these studies.....if you can.

The guy is either a troll or really ignorant. Or maybe. He has a special interest.

 

[gcarter]

His rhetoric is a little strong, as is the "side" he is arguing with. Way too much hyperbole in this thread, all around. Nonetheless, his basic thesis is valid, as I understand it.

* What this guy is doing is legal
* So long as it is legal, there is no real purpose to attacking him - knock him out of business, and someone else will step in - there is obviously a demand, however misguided, and it remains legal. Nothing accomplished.
* If you really want to shut this down, you need to focus on getting the laws changed.

To put it another way, you are attempting to treat the symptom, not the disease. Not only that, it is the minor symptom (small op), not the major one (commercial). It is tilting at windmills.

 

[merxlin]

His rhetoric is a little strong, as is the "side" he is arguing with. Way too much hyperbole in this thread, all around. Nonetheless, his basic thesis is valid, as I understand it.

* What this guy is doing is legal
* So long as it is legal, there is no real purpose to attacking him - knock him out of business, and someone else will step in - there is obviously a demand, however misguided, and it remains legal. Nothing accomplished.
* If you really want to shut this down, you need to focus on getting the laws changed.

To put it another way, you are attempting to treat the symptom, not the disease. Not only that, it is the minor symptom (small op), not the major one (commercial). It is tilting at windmills.

I keep asking this and no one seems to want to answer: Just because it is legal- does it mean it should be done? What if NO ONE steps in to take his place- but instead he is replace by an operation with a more environmentally sound philosophy, and that permeates the industry? Until we change the mindset of people like Mark, Mike and yourself, it will make it increasingly difficult to change the laws. And just like in medicine- sometimes you have to eliminate the minor symptoms before you can treat the disease.