Shark Slaughter

[tstormdiver]

I see your point. However the populations of a lot of these game animals have not always been in healthy numbers. Through conservation, controlled culling & sometimes taxes (special licenses to hunt these animals) the populations of these animals, after these measures are enforced, have come back into healthy population numbers. Where I live, in order to fish you must hold a fishing license. On top of that you must have a second license to catch trout. Can it not, perhaps be done with the sharks? In order to leagally hunt them you must hold a special (if not expensive license). Then put the $ earned from the licenese sales toward the conservation, breeding & protection of the animals. In this matter there would be much more control as to how many animals are taken yearly and by controlled taking would give the shark species a chance to recover, even though it may be years. Just a though.

 

[simonspear]

Wow, it's a once a year tounry. Maybe we should get a petition to stop the sluaghtering of cows, pigs, and chickens too.

Grrrrrrrrrrrr, someone hold me back !!!

There is a way to have a competition like this AND benefit scientific research, it's called TAG AND RELEASE!!! Why oh why do they HAVE to kill the winning sharks???

- Simon goes and bangs his head against a brick wall.

 

[simonspear]

I see your point. However the populations of a lot of these game animals have not always been in healthy numbers. Through conservation, controlled culling & sometimes taxes (special licenses to hunt these animals) the populations of these animals, after these measures are enforced, have come back into healthy population numbers. Where I live, in order to fish you must hold a fishing license. On top of that you must have a second license to catch trout. Can it not, perhaps be done with the sharks? In order to leagally hunt them you must hold a special (if not expensive license). Then put the $ earned from the licenese sales toward the conservation, breeding & protection of the animals. In this matter there would be much more control as to how many animals are taken yearly and by controlled taking would give the shark species a chance to recover, even though it may be years. Just a though.

You can't compare sharks to other game fish. Sharks often take years to reach sexual maturity, and in that time other game fish could have gone through 2, 3 or maybe more generations, allowing them to recover their numbers during the time that sharks are still getting to the stage where they can start to breed in the first place.

Sports fishing is never going to 'kill off' the shark population in an area (well never say never), but combine that with those fleets of long liners sitting just outside the 12 mile limit and you've got a hell of a problem that can't be controlled with licenses. There is one simple way to help and that is to NOT kill the bloody things in the first place. Catch them by all means, but rather than dragging them back to port to show off to all you friends, put a tag in them and help the scientific community in their research efforts.

Cheers, Simon

 

[tstormdiver]

I concede. Much better idea than mine. I guess I was just trying to play the devil's advocate. Like I mentioned earlier I am not opposed to we humans using the rescources of the planet. Just that the resources MUST be used wisely. That means fishing or hunting within the means of the species to survive and continue the next generations and if the animals are that threatened, then they should be left alone to try to repopulate the species. Thank you for clearing it up for me. I enjoy the natural worlrd & would certainly like for it to be around for generatons to come.

 

[simonspear]

I didn't mean to get all riled up, but sharks are a huge passion for me and I hate to hear about them getting killed for any reason. I've got nothing against sports fishing either, but I just really don't see the point in killing them. A better alternative surely would be to take photos, tag them and then put them back into the sea. I've just got no atom in my body that understands why someone would actually 'want' to kill them.

Sorry for the rant and all the best.

Cheers, Simon

 

[tstormdiver]

I didn't mean to get all riled up, but sharks are a huge passion for me and I hate to hear about them getting killed for any reason. I've got nothing against sports fishing either, but I just really don't see the point in killing them. A better alternative surely would be to take photos, tag them and then put them back into the sea. I've just got no atom in my body that understands why someone would actually 'want' to kill them.

Sorry for the rant and all the best.

Cheers, Simon

No offense taken on my part.:blinking: In fact I have been absolutely fascinated by sharks (& most other marine life) since I was a little girl. I live in the central United States, so I'm a bit land locked. The closest things to marine life I get to see, diving in these parts, are catfish, blue gill, crappie & bass. I have seen a few " sea critters" on a couple of ocean dives I have done, but I want to see more! So far, the closest to a wild shark I have ever been is watching them in an aquarium or on TV documentaries. I am going on a diving trip this summer in the Bahamas and am hoping to see some truely in the wild. Once again, thank you for helping to educate me on the plight of the shark.

 

[simonspear]

Tammy if you are anything like me then once you see a real live big shark cruise by you while you're diving, you will never look back. They are the most graceful awe inspiring animals that you could ever hope to see.

The Bahamas is a great place to see sharks from Caribbean Reefs, right up to Tigers and Mokarrans. You'll love it

Cheers, Simon