Shark kills French diver in Marsa Alam

[samaka]

Here is what HEPCA is telling everybody working as guides in Egyptian Red Sea. For most of us this is just common sense but believe it or not some has to be told...

.......a.......

Open Letter from HEPCA To all Dive Guides in the Egyptian Red Sea

Most of you are aware of the death of the snorkeler at St. Johns by an Oceanic WhiteTip Shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) earlier this month. The death was especially tragic because it could have been avoided if guests had been stopped from snorkelling. Allowing guests to snorkel at St. Johns and other Far Islands, especially when C. longimanus is presence, is highly unprofessional. Not only does it place guests at risk of injury, but such unprofessional action gives the whole Egyptian Red Sea dive industry a bad reputation. Since the death of the snorkeler, dive guides have reported to HEPCA that some C. longimanus at the Far Islands are displaying overly inquisitive or even aggressive behaviour towards them while diving. This included sharks near the surface moving rapidly towards divers at 30 m. Others have reported being bumped, tanks nudged and sharks swimming extremely close to them and their guests. There may be a number of reasons why these animals are behaving this way. It could be due to the illegal actions of some divers who have been feeding them in these areas or boat crews baiting them. Alternatively, or in combination with, it may be due to natural seasonal causes relating to reproduction or the presence of natural prey. Whatever the reason(s), we urge guides to be especially vigilant when diving in areas where C. longimanus is commonly encountered. In light of this recent information, we have expanded our earlier list of recommendations when taking guests to areas where this species is commonly encountered. The earlier and new recommendations are:
• No swimming and snorkelling in waters where this and other large species of sharks are known to frequent
• No deliberate feeding of this species or the dumping of waste from boats which may attract this and other potentially dangerous sharks (both activities are illegal in Egyptian waters)
• No SCUBA diving without an experienced dive guide in waters where this species is known to frequent
• In areas such as the Far Islands, where this species is frequently observed, it is advisable that divers enter (and are retrieved from) the water as close as possible to the reef.
• In areas such as the Far Islands it is illegal to be involved in any night diving activities.
• Dive in groups and keep close together.
• Two dive guides should accompany each group.
• Divers should leave the water immediately if sharks display signs of aggression such as nudging or circling divers, or moving rapidly towards them.
• Report to HEPCA any incidents of aggressive behaviour by these animals towards divers, and
• Report to HEPCA the names of vessels whose divers or crew are observed feeding or baiting sharks.
Until recently, the Egypt Red Sea diving industry had an impressive track record of safely introducing divers to one of the largest and wide-ranging predators on the planet. With your help we would like to rebuild that record. For more information of this species in the Egyptian Red Sea go to: http://www.longimanus.info/species-info.htm

HEPCA

 

[Geoff_H]

I believe the japanese do as well.

Not really. As vladimir says it is served in Chinese restaurants - I've never seen sharks fin soup in a Japanese one.

 

[Knuspar]

Not really. As vladimir says it is served in Chinese restaurants - I've never seen sharks fin soup in a Japanese one.

All of asia eat sharkfin soup .. most of the places its more or less "just" a soup .. its in chinese resturants that shark fin soup is a delicate dish as in expensive and shows some kind of status.

Ignorance is bliss !

Shark polulation have declied at least 75% during the past 10 years .. so who cares where they eat the damned soup ..

Leave the sharks alone .. or perish us all eventually!

 

[vladimir]

All of asia eat sharkfin soup

You keep declaring that this is true. Could you perhaps cite some evidence? A Wikipedia entry? A menu from a Kyrgyz restaurant with shark's fin on it? I would be happy to adjust my opinion in the face of new evidence. Anything besides you stamping your foot and declaring that it is true would be a step in the right direction.

The fact is, shark's fin soup is overwhelmingly consumed by ethnic Chinese in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and China. Yes, it is consumed in Japan, and maybe even in Kyrgyzstan, but not in amounts that are substantial in comparison to the consumption in those predominantly Chinese countries. It is a Chinese tradition and a problem caused by the ignorance of ethnic Chinese diners.

I share your enthusiasm for shark conservation, but the cause is not served by misinformation.

Decimating Shark Population for Some Soup - ABC News

The fins are sold primarily to China for shark fin soup

Fins for sale - Environment - The Independent

Shark's fin is now the star ingredient in some of Britain's top Chinese restaurants.

Taipei Times - archives

However, the media snub in China -- and in Hong Kong, where some 80 percent of all shark fin is consumed -- suggested the campaign will face some tough resistance in the world's most populous country.

 

[Knuspar]

You keep declaring that this is true. Could you perhaps cite some evidence? A Wikipedia entry? A menu from a Kyrgyz restaurant with shark's fin on it? I would be happy to adjust my opinion in the face of new evidence. Anything besides you stamping your foot and declaring that it is true would be a step in the right direction.

The fact is, shark's fin soup is overwhelmingly consumed by ethnic Chinese in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and China. Yes, it is consumed in Japan, and maybe even in Kyrgyzstan, but not in amounts that are substantial in comparison to the consumption in those predominantly Chinese countries. It is a Chinese tradition and a problem caused by the ignorance of ethnic Chinese diners.

I share your enthusiasm for shark conservation, but the cause is not served by misinformation.

You need a wikipedia link for it to be true? Wikipedia can be edited by every guy on the planet ( aside scientology folks .. hehe ).

I have personally seen it served in lots of places in Thailand. Unfortunatly i know several people in my own family who have tasted the soup.

I know for a fact its eaten in Indonesia and its also served in Manila in the Philippines as well i have from a close friend.

Outside europe, in the Mediterranean it has been served on Malta as well, i know because my parents told me the tasted it a few years back.

I am glad we agree on the sharks being important. But its not just the Chinese to blame, its every single guy/girl who ever tasted it IMO.

 

[Geoff_H]

All of asia eat sharkfin soup .. most of the places its more or less "just" a soup .. its in chinese resturants that shark fin soup is a delicate dish as in expensive and shows some kind of status.

Ignorance is bliss !

Yes, your ignorance must be blissful.

I would avoid trying to smear entire nations with your misguided views though.

 

[Dadvocate]

I live in China, and it seems that for many northern Chinese this soup is not really all that popular. Apparently it is more of a delicacy in the southern parts of the country. I don’t know if looking at where shark fin soup is served is really the correct way to isolate the problem and assign blame. I think China does deserve the blame for the desimation of sharks because the practice of finning springs from its culture, even if the the actual fishing takes place eslewhere or even if others partake in the soup as a one off.

The odds are the restuarants serving shark fin soup in the places you mention are catering to Chinese travelers anyway. And more than likely a bowl of this soup in Indonesia for example represents only a small portion of the sharks killed for their fins which are sent to China everyday. It is served all over the place in some parts of China.

The fact remains that the proliferation of finning practices has grown right along with the growing middle class in China, which has the unfortunate side effect of hearkening in people an archaic need to show prosperity in modern times using some ridiculous throwback to the emperors of yore. And unfortunately from my experience so far, things change very, very slowly in China, too slowly to hope that sharks can outlast the trend.

All of the finning practices that take place in South America, Indonesia, Malaysia, and elsewhere happen as a direct result of the demand coming out of my host country which springs from this growing middle class. Taiwan seems to be a major driving force as well. And it isn’t enough to simply not eat the soup in my opinion. If you see it on offer in an establishment somewhere, please tell the waiter or the owner that you think it is a terrible practice and leave. That is what I forced my soon to be in-laws to do when I saw shark fin soup on the menu in Langkawi on my last holiday. The waiter wasn’t too happy, which I hope translates into a change in practice if more people do the same.

Cheers!

 

[Geoff_H]

I have personally seen it served in lots of places in Thailand. Unfortunatly i know several people in my own family who have tasted the soup.

I know for a fact its eaten in Indonesia and its also served in Manila in the Philippines as well i have from a close friend.

It's served in Denmark too - shall we smear Danes?

Some of us have lived and worked in a lot of the countries you name, and you're just talking the most incredible rubbish. Do you really think most people in Thailand and Philippines can afford to eat shark fin soup? Sure - it might be served in a few high end Chinese restaurants in those countries but then again we could eat it in America and every European country too.

 

[vladimir]

You need a wikipedia link for it to be true?

I used Wikipedia as an example of a minimum of evidence, which you have yet to meet. If you have a peer-reviewed study you can cite, that would be great.

 

[Dadvocate]

There is also another issue related to where shark fin soup is being served. If, for example, shark fin soup is being served in the USA, who is to say that the whole shark wasn’t caught and used and not just the fins?

This consideration is an important one, I’d say, because the soup is then the product of a much more reasonable fishing practice. The wastefulness of the finning practices happening today is tied to the fact that only the fins are being used, with the rest of the animal being tossed back into the sea. This practice can be traced to China, probably southern China.

I shop at a midsized grocery store here in Tianjin, and on occasion a whole shark is sold; it is cut into pieces and displayed on ice for people to buy. Yes, the fins are on offer as well as the rest of the animal. Though I will never eat shark fin soup, I can at least acknowledge that this form of fishing is far superior to the wasteful and disgraceful kind that is taking place in far too many locations these days. It also shows that shark fin soup is not necessarily a China-wide issue.

And one last aside. The Philippines has a great number of once Chinese nationals who are now very affluent Pinoys. If there is shark fin soup on offer, more than likely it is to cater to their desires. I doubt seriously that a starving people would waste their time eating something of little nutritional value. A whole shark, maybe, but not the fins in a soup. I’ve yet to see shark fin adobo.

Cheers!