help stop shark finning

Wow, yeah I mean this is really just half of the story. Everybody should watch the documentary Sharkwater, it's horrifying what is going on, sharks are being finned and killed at the rate of 800,000 a month! Indiscriminate of size and species. An animal that has a 400 million year evolutionary history may well be largely wiped out within a decade. The trouble is the industry is so lucrative that it's literally ran by cartels, there is so much money and power that law enforcement can be bought off in most countries where landings occur throughout central america and China. Chinese people are either naive or don't care about the plight of sharks, I mean just look at how they treat their toddlers! (anybody see that video of the 3 yo girl being hit by a truck, and like 15 people pass by her and just walk around her and carry on?) We can't expect sympathy from the general Chinese government. Gordon Ramsay's campaign is a good start for America, but major politicians need to come out and demand a change in national law for China too.....although we're hardly in a position to demand anything from the Chinese!

 

Sharks are the garbage disposals of the ocean without them it could get real messy. Unfortunately peoples arrogance as well as ignorance about them are what cause this. I fear we will not save the sharks because they are not cute and cuddly . They don't get cancer and live for centuries. Should that not be a reason to protect them and study them not just finn them and through them over board.

 

sharks don't get epidermal neoplasia or sarcomas, but I there's little evidence to support the idea that they don't get cancer. It's part of the stigma actually. Although yes, shark cartilage extracts and cytotoxic derivatives have been used to prevent angiogenesis in human tumors, and the results have been only partially successful and far from conclusive. It's generally thought of as an end of life solution as without appropriate targeting mechanisms cytotoxins preventing angiogeneisis attack the entire body system and result in the destruction of vasculature, there has been a lot of debate about the quality of life prolonged by these types of treatments. Also by most accounts, shark lifespans are largely unknown, although they are thought to live less than 100 years in most cases.

I agree, fish and sharks are at great risk because of that one specific property they lack.....they're not mammals. Most people could give a **** less about fish and sharks, in fact many people I know and work with find my fascination with fish peculiar, and otherwise deplorable. I'm not sure why, their disposition is rather absurd, I guess watching the Jersey Shore and the Kardashians is a more reasonable and insightful hobby...These are the reasons I sometimes want to kill myself.

 

Hopefully Andy, you won't kill yourself! Where can the documentary be found Andy?

I think that it would be good if a petition was started about stopping the senseless and horrific slaughter of all sharks and then sent to our Congressman. If we and other reef clubs, Reef Central, MASNA, etc... don't voice our outrage, then why would others?

 

Lol thanks! you know what really makes me not want to kill myself though...is a 50 dollar donation via paypal lol! ooohhhh man. Yeah there are numerous petitions on the care 2 petition site, these petitions are all forwarded to congressmen. Although it's probably a good project for MASNA major to send a message to whatever congress people we've got gunning for us in Washington. I would like to know more about MASNA's lobbying efforts.....seems like an important facet for our hobby.

 

lol ;-0) Just $50?!! Marc (melev) may know something about MASNA's lobbying efforts. Anyone can contact him via his website......

 

This is a tough subject, mainly because it really isn't happening in our neighborhood. We can lobby all we want here, but if the countries that are allowing this to happen don't stop it, the only other option is for us (as a nation) to step in. America already has a pretty bad reputation in some places for doing this. I have a hard time believing that we could impose military action, but that is really all there is to resort to when a group of people cannot be reasoned with. What this is going to take is proper education, and that is something that will not come overnight.
All that said, I would have a much easier time donating if I knew where this money was going. In what way is my dollar, or one-hundred dollars actually making a difference? How many dollars does it take to save that one single shark? And for how many days?

 

No no no, there's no money going around, unless you want to donate to the "help convince Andy not to kill himself in light of Hollywood idiocracy (kardashians, jersey shore, desperate housewife culture) fund" lol Just 50 dollars! What can I say I'm easy to please! lol I solemly pledge to use this money to pay for my Mediacom subscription to the Smithsonian Channel and Science Channel lol

There are other forms of persuasion rather than military action, there's certainly no way that we're going to take on China! But the potential for political and social pressure is certainly possible. And this type of activity actually IS going on in our own backyard....South and Central America, the United States is directly tied to their economic policies, agricultural sector and manufacturing industry. Of course the big issue right now between the US and the other countries in our hemisphere is the drug cartels in Mexico. So shark finning probably won't steal the spot light.....