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It’s about responsibility, jerk

Posted by Casson on Jun 10, 2010 in News and Announcements

Mine! Mine! All mine!

In an age where we are pushing our planet’s limits in search of resources, we find more and more poignancy in questions of corporate social responsibility. What obligations, either ethical or legal, should govern an a extractive operation as it roots around in the rainforest, slurps up the oceans, or grinds its way into the Earth’s crust in search of coltan, cod, or crude oil?

We have reached a point where the simple ability to access a resource can no longer be interpreted as right to do so.  This kind of anachronistic thinking has gotten us into a world of trouble.  The fact is that we are an incredibly powerful species, with the technological capacity to perform jaw-dropping feats.  We can build immense transit tunnels below the ocean, launch intricate networks of satellites to enrich communication, and splice vegetable DNA into a chicken.  This kind of space-age tech lends perceived legitimacy to business plans which make endeavors like offshore oil drilling appear safe and massively profitable.  A few people make a lot of money, something goes horribly wrong, and we all pay the price.

Crude behavior

The toxic results of this kind of unmitigated rapacity have been spurting into the Gulf of Mexico for weeks now.  A small group of people decided that they were willing to gamble with the health of our planet for their own personal gain.  We should be furious.  Who do these pompous egoists think they are, and why, for God’s sake, are we allowing them to compromise our future for their own profit?

This appallingly selfish approach to business must be stopped.  Given that we live together on a finite planet, the corporations of the future must be those that are willing to take responsibility for their actions.

The concept of sustainable seafood is predicated on the idea that seafood purveyors, which have for decades served as implements of oceanic destruction, must start standing up for the planet regardless of traditional consumer preferences.  The fact is that the average seafood diner or sushi patron simply does not have the time to educate him/herself on the environmental impacts of the vast and ever-changing array of seafood options available to consumers in today’s world.  Diabolically efficient fishing technology coupled with cheap refrigeration and well-organized global freight networks allow us access to countless seafood items for all corners of the globe, some environmentally acceptable and some quite the opposite.  As such, chefs, merchants, and restaurateurs that take the initiative to defend the ocean and its future.  After all, if you work in the seafood industry, it is the ocean that is providing your paycheck.

The face of the future?

The face of the future?

Thankfully, we are seeing a gradual shift towards this more responsible way of thinking.  In the seafood world, I can think of no better example than Martin Reed and his sustainable seafood delivery business, ilovebluesea.com.  Reed shoulders the burden of sorting the proverbial wheat from the chaff himself, so his customers really can’t make a mistake in terms of the environmental repercussions of their choices.  Ilovebluesea.com refuses to offer seafood items that are in the Seafood Watch “avoid” category or on the Greenpeace red list, and demands transparency and traceability on the part of his suppliers.  Gear type, catch location, and other important information must all be provided before ilovebluesea.com agrees to offer the fish.  The company is even addressing packaging and shipping issues by using recyclable and/or biodegradable containers rather than Styrofoam and similar petro-synthetic nightmares.

A much larger company also recently took an impressive step towards corporate social responsibility in the seafood world.  Maersk, the shipping giant, has declared that it will not transport any whale products, any shark products (including fins), any Patagonian or Antarctic toothfish, or any orange roughy on its ships due to concerns about the sustainability of these products.  This is a very powerful message, especially when one considers that Maersk ships about 20% of all of the world’s internationally traded sea-borne seafood products.

Full steam ahead

Full steam ahead

The Greenpeace seafood retailer rankings also help to shed some light on seafood purveyors that are – or are not, as the case may be – doing the right thing.  Companies like Target and Wegmans are taking positive steps and working towards truly sustainable seafood operations, while others, like Costco, are charging full steam, hands clapped over ears and yammering loudly, propelling us all in our mutual handcart down to Hades.

We obviously do not have the legal framework in place to reign in this kind of behavior.  Otherwise, one could surmise, we would never have had a Deepwater explosion, and Costco wouldn’t be selling Chilean seabass and orange roughy in the first place.  Given that, it is up to us as consumers to act.

We need to reward businesses that are making the change towards legitimate corporate social responsibility.  Buy seafood from honest purveyors that don’t try to pull the wool over our eyes.  Some companies are willingly selling out our oceans to line their bank accounts – so why are we shopping there?

If you want to make your money from my ocean, you’d better treat it with respect.  It’s about responsibility, jerk.

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Death knell

Posted by Casson on Apr 14, 2010 in Fishing and Farming, ICCAT, News and Announcements
Sharks selling eels, eels slinging shark

The seafood show at the end of the world

It’s been a while.  Sorry for the silence.

There were any number of reasons for my delay in writing this.  March was a busy month for sure: the resurgence of competing priorities, such as working towards the successful end of Greenpeace’s Trader Joe’s campaign, certainly did their part in keeping me away from this blog.  The Boston Seafood Show and related pandemonium was no help either.  But to be honest, the main reason that I haven’t written is much simpler than that.

I’ve been sad.

Last meal

Last meal?

The Northern bluefin tuna was doomed to commercial extinction last month at the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in Doha, Qatar.  In spite of all the work done by millions of caring people around the globe, the Japanese delegation managed to defeat our best efforts and corral enough votes to deny the bluefin even the most meager of protections.  Truly, the ocean’s most majestic fish has been sentenced to death for the twin crimes of being profitable and delicious.

I have spent the last few weeks seething over the unconscionable actions of the Japanese delegation.  CITES wasn’t even about coming together and discussing the real issues – frankly, it never got that far.  Riding in on a horse of flame and bluster (earlier that week, the Japanese government had stated that “even if the bluefin were awarded CITES protection, the Japanese would ignore it,”) a fifty-strong group of delegates from Tokyo stormed the meeting, bullying and coercing smaller nations into supporting their myopic, arrogant agenda.  And the cherry on top of this bloody sundae?  The Japanese delegation hosted a dinner during CITES to discuss this issue, at which they had the audacity to serve – you guessed it – bluefin tuna.

Am I the only one appalled by this unbridled hubris?

Ummm... a little help?

Ummm... a little help?

To worsen matters even more, a measure aimed at restricting the trade of corals was defeated, and of the eight species of shark that were tabled for potential protection, not a single one was given any succor whatsoever.  Oh, and I almost forgot – the polar bear was left out in the cold as well.

The 2010 CITES meeting was nothing short of a travesty.  The few countries that were finally able to get things together and support an environmental agenda fell apart in the face of a well-organized, well-funded Japanese delegation that treated these matters as nothing short of issues of national security.  In one fell swoop, the CITES parties have sacrificed ten key species – northern bluefin tuna, oceanic whitetip sharks, scalloped hammerhead sharks, great hammerhead sharks, smooth hammerhead sharks, porbeagle sharks, spiny dogfish, sandbar sharks, dusky sharks, and our noble polar bears – for the benefit of short-sighted economic gain.

Citizens of Earth – our leaders have failed us.  Miserably.  So what do we do?

No port in a storm

No port in a storm

Although it may not seem like it from the title of this post, I’m still not ready to take the bluefin’s death certificate to the local notary public.  We do have a slight glimmer of hope here in the USA.

The western population of the Northern bluefin tuna spawns in a small area in the Gulf of Mexico, much of which is located within US waters.  Even if we can’t yet regulate international commerce, we can still do our part to protect these bedeviled creatures while they are visiting our coastline.

Targeted bluefin fishing in the aforementioned spawning grounds has been forbidden (under ICCAT, believe it or not) since the 1980s.  Still, that doesn’t stop fishermen from targeting other species – mainly swordfish and yellowfin tuna – in those areas, and bluefin bycatch is a serious problem.  Hundreds of spawning animals are killed every year by longliners that are operating in these areas.

Not in our waters

Not in our waters

It is within our power to rectify this situation.  If the US government bans the use of longline fishing gear within the spawning grounds, it will drastically reduce the overall bluefin bycatch rate in the Gulf and allow more fish the opportunity to reproduce.  This is one way that we can bolster the population while we continue to push for the international management that the bluefin so sorely needs.

Please support the PEW environment group’s campaign to give the bluefin tuna at least a modicum of protection by banning longlines in the Gulf of Mexico bluefin spawning grounds.

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ICCAT delenda est

Posted by Casson on Nov 18, 2009 in Fishing and Farming, ICCAT, News and Announcements

Ahh, ICCAT.  Our friendly International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.  Truly a group of wise and responsible stewards of the seas.

&!^$%#!!

Thanks for nothing

This has gone too far.  The greed and corruption running this Commission are now about as well camouflaged as a stegosaurus trying to hide behind a postage stamp.  Forgive the hackneyed humor, but there is no longer any doubt whatsoever that ICCAT does in fact stand for “The International Conspiracy to Catch All the Tuna.”

Last week, at a meeting in Recife, Brazil, the scientific advisers to the Commission proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Northern bluefin tuna is in a critical situation.  Not a single delegate dared voice an objection to the fact that the animal’s perilous status qualified it for protection under CITES.

Numerous scientists from a multitude of different countries and environmental organizations submitted proposals stating unequivocally that the quota must be dropped from the current 19,500 metric tons to no more than 8,000 metric tons, if we hope to give the population even a 50% chance of recovery.

Pleading for sanity

Clover: Pleading for sanity

The science was bulletproof.  There was not a single shred of evidence that could countervail this assertion.  Greenpeace, WWF, and other environmental groups belabored the point until they were hoarse. Charles Clover, author of The End of the Line and prominent champion of the bluefin, made the trek to Recife to plead the poor fish’s case – he even managed to arrange a screening of the film for the ICCAT delegates.

So, when all was said and done, what was the final decision of the Commission?

In its infinite wisdom, the august body that is ICCAT voted to set the upcoming season’s bluefin quota at 13,500 metric tons.

ICCAT: Doing the math

This number far exceeds any remotely defensible figure.  It’s a quota with zero scientific basis that flies in the face of conventional wisdom and virtually ensures the commercial extinction of this animal.  Such a calculus is justifiable only to the members of what is clearly no more than a political cult idolizing greed, corruption, and piracy.

I need to take a few seconds and collect myself before continuing, lest this post degenerate into rabid polemics and I end up with spittle all over my computer screen.  I am so angry right now that it is difficult for me to express myself in a manner that doesn’t involve the wanton destruction of some nearby appliance.

ICCAT has failed.  It has failed us, and it has failed the bluefin.  It has failed the oceans, it has failed the planet, and it has failed our children.

In fact, ICCAT has even managed to fail the myopic fishing interests that control it.  Any corruption-riddled junta worth its salt should at least be able to satisfy its puppeteers to the degree that it provide them with their illicit plunder for more than just a couple of years.  This quota will not only ensure the destruction of the bluefin, but it will result in the controlling parties not even having a resource to exploit come the end of the Mayan calendar.

Catching their drift

Catching their drift

Immediately folloing the closing session of the Recife meeting, Charles Clover wrote a scathing and comprehensive letter in response to this kangaroo court escapade, noting that not only was the Commission unable to adopt sensible protections for several shark species, ICCAT actually voted to allow three member nations to continue to use drift nets — one of the most indiscriminate and destructive fishing methods on the face of the planet.  And thus do we all sally forth together into this bright new tuna-free world.

So where’s the silver lining here?  Believe it or not, it rests with the US government.

We need you more than ever

Nearly a month ago, I wrote a short post about how Dr. Jane Lubchenco, the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), had passed on Monaco’s proposal and threw her support behind ICCAT with the proviso that ICCAT set “responsible science-based quotas,” among other instructions.  Clearly, the Commission did not adhere to this directive.  As such, it is now Dr. Lubchenco’s responsibility to live up to her promise and champion Monaco’s proposal to grant the Northern bluefin tuna protection under CITES Appendix 1.  And it is our responsibility, as stewards and citizens of this planet, to show her our support.

I urge all who read this to send an email to Dr. Jane Lubchenco at Jane.Lubchenco@noaa.gov reminding her to rise to the occasion and stand up for the bluefin tuna.  ICCAT clearly cannot do so, regardless of the clarity and quantity of science that would justify such action.  It is time to cast off the trappings of this useless, obsolete Commission and to try something that will actually work.

Additional background on this issue can be found in a previous post.

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Skipjack, seiners, and the sea - Week 1: The search

Posted by Casson on Nov 16, 2009 in Fishing and Farming, News and Announcements
Papeete Harbor

Under a Tahitian cloud

This article continues from a previous post.

After enduring a few unfortunate customs snags and transit delays, I finally joined the crew of the Esperanza in Papeete, the commercial center of Tahiti and the capital of French Polynesia, on Saturday, November 7th.

Tahiti is not like the other parts of the Pacific that I’ve visited.  First of all, it’s wealthy.  Its political connections to France (French Polynesia is still dependent territory under French rule) and the resulting subsidies have brought a tremendous amount of money to the island.  As such, being a tourist in Tahiti is not cheap.  I was dropping between eight and ten dollars for a beer.

Still, Papeete is a nice place: the harbor and streets are festooned with ivory tiare flowers, and an incomprehensibly verdant mountain tears its way skyward a stone’s throw from the center of town, providing a heart-melting south Pacific backdrop.

Presidential support is always welcome

Capt. Habib and President Timaru - reunited

The President of French Polynesia, the Honorable Oscar Timaru, stopped by to say hello and to voice his support for Greenpeace and for the campaign.  President Timaru and Captain Madeline Habib, the skipper of the Esperanza, actually spent some time working together on a nuclear campaign in Moruroa in 1995.

After President Timaru left, the Esperanza steamed out of Papeete harbor.  The next few days were spent heading north around the western edge of the Tuamotu Archipelago and then northeast towards the Marquesas Islands.

We’ve now been at sea for one week, and life on board is casual and relaxed.  The crew is experienced and capable, and the captain runs this ship with a steady hand and a positive attitude.

Crusty old FAD from yesteryear

A FAD from yesteryear

On Friday, November 13, we encountered our first FAD.  It was floating in the open sea southwest of the Marquesas, and appeared to be derelict – there was no radio transmitter attached to it, nor were there any markings to suggest ownership or origin.   The FAD itself was basically a makeshift bamboo raft fixed to a nylon rope, which vanished into the depths (it was presumably attached a weight of some kind).  A thick crust of gooseneck barnacles encased the entire FAD; it had clearly been in the water for some time.

The camera team was deployed to investigate and catalog the FAD and the ecosystem that had developed around it.  We counted at least eight different species of fish schooling around it, and that was only what were were able to positively identify.  Seiners are only after one of those species — skipjack tuna.  The other seven would all end up dead, tossed over the side as bycatch.

Wrong place, right time

Wrong place, right time

The FAD had done its job — it had become a sort of floating reef, attracting numerous forage fish as well as several different types of predatory animals.  A few oceanic white-tip sharks haunted the area, skirting the edges in search of an easy meal.  If this FAD were found and fished by a purse seiner, those sharks and everything else around the raft would be caught in the net and killed.

As we continue traveling north towards the Equator, we’ll move into a latitudinal band known as the Doldrums, an area between 5° N and 5°S known for having weak currents and lackluster wind.  This is a preferred target area for skipjack seiners, as they are able to drop FADs with little worry of the devices being carried away by a restless ocean.

More updates as we move onward.

This article continues in a subsequent post.

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The Art of Sushi - Part 4: Going beyond the limit with Chris Jordan

Posted by Casson on Nov 11, 2009 in News and Announcements, Serial Pieces, The Art of Sushi
Does size matter?  Ask Chris Jordan

Does size matter? Ask Chris Jordan

Since I am currently on a ship slowly steaming across the vast azure void of the Pacific Ocean, it seems appropriate to discuss an artist that specializes in not only environmental conservation messages, but in a medium that calls our attention to the size and scale of the challenges that have beset our planet.

Chris Jordan is a Seattle-based artist who has both an unrivaled determination and an uncanny ability to tackle some of the largest problems in the world – and I mean that quite literally.  Jordan excels at  confronting issues that threaten our very survival, but are simply too large for us to easily understand.  One of the ironic cruelties of ocean conservation is the fact that the problems facing us are so astoundingly immense that we simply lack the brain power to truly comprehend them.  When talking about pollution, overfishing, and climate change, we routinely speak in numbers so large that we are unable to construct a mental picture that reflects the truth.

For example, consider the case of the world’s largest food fishery, Alaska pollock.  For the last several years, the total landings of Alaska pollock have roughly averaged around 1.5 million tons.  1.5 million tons certainly seems like a huge number — but what does it look like?  How many fish is that, exactly?  How many freezers would that fill?  How many people does that feed?  How many football stadiums could we bury under frozen pollock fillets?  The number is simply so large that we cannot grasp the actual amount of biomass in question.  This lack of understanding stymies our ability to understand the impacts of our actions on the health of our planet.

"Gyre" (photograph)

"Gyre" (photograph)

Chris Jordan’s talent lies not just in his ability to translate the incomprehensibly large into the understandably small, but to do so in a way that actually enhances the gravitas of the subject matter.  One area in which he has seemingly achieved the impossible is in the case of the North Pacific gyre, home of the litter-strewn waters known as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” or “trash vortex.”  When we discuss the gyre and its lamentable petro-saturated state, it becomes difficult to truly grasp the dimensions of the problem for the simple reason that it is so staggeringly large.  We can say something like “twice the size of Texas,” but how does one truly visualize that expanse?  What will it take to truly drive home the gargantuan scope of the trash vortex and the looming challenge that it represents?

Close-up of "Gyre": top of Mt. Fuji

Jordan attacked the problem head on by creating his awe-inspiring “Gyre”: a mosaic of discarded, waterlogged plastic that he has painstakingly arranged to mimic Hokusai’sGreat Wave off Kanagawa,” which is unequivocally one of the most well-known seascapes in the history of mankind. Jordan’s piece measures only nine feet by twelve feet, yet somehow manages to convey the immense scale of the trash vortex, which is nearly the size of the continental United States.   The close-up shots reveal the millions of pieces of plastic that have been co-opted into this mammoth task.  His use of actual flotsam and jetsam taken from the sea itself to create such an iconic encapsulation of the ocean is a stroke of genius — the viewer cannot help but imagine the foreboding reality of a sea composed entirely of plastic.

"Shark teeth" (photograph)

"Shark teeth" (photograph)

Jordan has also weighed in on the abominable practice of shark finning and the hellacious scope of the industry’s shark-slaughtering machine.  His 2009 photograph “Shark teeth” showcases an artfully arranged collection of fossilized shark teeth ranging from off-white and beige to dusky blue and dark grey.  The original piece measures 64″ by 94″ and is based on a watercolor by artist Sarah Waller.  There are 270,000 teeth in the collage – one tooth for each shark that is killed by the global finning fleet every single day.

Jordan’s juxtaposition of stratospheric mega-imagery with close-ups of minute detail smacks the viewer with two difference senses of awe: the jaw drops upon perceiving the abyssal magnitude of the work, while the eyes squint and forehead wrinkles in disbelief at its pseudo-molecular intricacy.  He accomplishes the same task on behalf of one of the world’s most beleaguered fish with “Tuna,” a photographic marvel detailing 20,500 tuna — the average number of tuna captured from the world’s oceans every fifteen minutes.

"Tuna" (photograph)

Jordan proves through his relentless drive, his attention to detail, and his willingness to confront issues beyond the scope of human imagination that we are truly an omnipotent race.  We have created these problems for ourselves, but however massive they have become, however long they have festered, whether spiraling outward in plastic ripples across the face of the deep or tearing into it with greed-driven claws, it is within out power to understand them – and with that understanding will come one inevitable conclusion: we can, and we must, save the ocean.

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No finners… only losers

Posted by Casson on Oct 19, 2009 in Fishing and Farming, News and Announcements
Terror of the deep

Open wide

Sharks?  I hear they eat people.

I hear they’re vicious, blood-thirsty death machines bereft of qualms or conscience, living only to feed, sowing terror in the hearts of beach bunnies and surfer dudes everywhere.

Best get rid of ‘em.

Oh, and something else: you know those funny things that stick out from their bodies?  Those cartilaginous ridges that help them to turn, accelerate, and maneuver in the water?  The ones without which they wouldn’t be able to function?  The ones with an off-putting chewy texture, virtually no flavor, and only the most dubious gastronomic appeal?

I hear they make a damn fine soup.

Because of nonsense like this, sharks have been in our cross-hairs for decades.  Due to a combination of unjustified fears and an insatiable appetite for shark fins in east Asia, it’s been an absolute bloodbath.  We kill tens of millions of sharks every year.  A countless number of them die on tuna longlines, ending their lives as ignominious tick marks on a bycatch report that no one ever sees.  Many are killed by fishermen and aquaculturists as a part of “predator control” programs.  Some are taken by recreational anglers that simply want the thrill of the fight.

But most of them?  Most of them die for their fins.

On the chopping block

On the chopping block

The global shark finning fleet is a vast network of hundreds of vessels that operates as countless independent cells, terrorizing sharks from the Red Sea to the Caribbean, from the icy coasts of Greenland to the Cape of Good Hope.  Dozens of species are targeted solely for their fins, which can be exchanged for buckets of cash in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and other centers of the trade.  Shark finners catch the sharks on lines or in nets and haul them to the surface.  Once the animals are immobilized, the finners dismember the sharks with machetes or similar implements.  The hapless creatures are then either chopped into steaks or callously tossed overboard to bleed to death as they sink into the deeps.

Shark fins are coveted due to their alleged medicinal value.  When purified and injected, shark cartilage has been linked to an antiangiogenic effect (blood vessels shrinking away from the injected area.)  This is particularly interesting in the realm of tumors and cancer treatment.  The link between such an effect and a bowl of boiled shark fins in broth, however, is theoretical at best.

Dying for some soup

Just dying for some soup

Sadly, the unproven nature of shark fin’s medicinal status hasn’t hindered demand in the slightest.  Bowls of shark fin soup can fetch over $100 each, and the Hong Kong market alone handles over 3000 tons of shark fin every year.  All the while, shark populations across the planet are crashing – some have decreased by 90% or more.

Thankfully, governments are starting to wake up to the reality of the situation.

In March of this year, the United States House of Representatives passed the Shark Conservation Act, which would amend both the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to improve the conservation of sharks.  Unfortunately, this bill is now tied up in committee in the Senate.

Just this week, Scotland enacted legislation that will prohibit all shark finning in Scottish waters.  While this is not the comprehensive fishing ban that is necessary to truly protect the animals, it is a tremendous step in the right direction, and will hopefully send signals to the European Union that shark conservation is a critical issue.

Toribiong: Shark Savior

Toribiong: Shark Savior

Last month, Johnson Toribiong, the President of Palau, announced a ban on all forms of shark fishing anywhere in Palauan waters.  Henceforth, he proclaimed, his entire country would be a shark sanctuary.  Palau is the first country in the world to take such progressive action.

So how can we continue to turn the tide and save these incredible creatures?

1)    Boycott companies like Seagate that try to legitimize shark finning.

Shark fin isn’t just sold in Asia.  Believe it or not, you can find it in markets all over the world — largely because it is camouflaged by gel caps and a white plastic bottle.  Seagate, a supplement company, renders shark fins into powder, hides them under a childproof cap, and markets the resulting product to natural food stores.  The actions of this company — which actually has the audacity to proudly proclaim itself “the only producer of [powdered shark fin cartilage] in the world” — cannot be tolerated.  I encourage you to contact the company directly, at 1-888-505-GATE.

Oh, and when they tell you “No, we’re not taking sharks for their fins, it’s actually a byproduct of a food fishery” — just ask them what part of the shark is worth the most.  Then feel free to lambaste them for supporting an unmanaged, unregulated shark fishery that targets diminishing stocks off the coast of Baja California.

Let's be clear

Let's be clear

2)    Avoid buying seafood from grocers that sell shark.

Incredibly, some major US seafood retailers still sell shark and shark products.   Publix, Giant Eagle, H.E.B., and Supervalu (the company which operates as Albertson’s, Cub Foods, Lucky, Shaw’s, and many other regional banners) are all known to sell shark in some locations.

3)    Support political initiatives that promote shark protection.

The United States and Europe are moving forward, but not quickly enough.  We need to demand that the US Senate to ratify the Shark Conservation Act, and the European Union needs to incorporate the Scottish example into its overall fishing policy.

4) Go to Palau.

No, I can’t afford it either, but it’s still important to mention.  Palau is a small and relatively impoverished country; it is making tremendous strides towards sustainable ocean stewardship, but there are certainly grumbles about the costs of such behavior in the short run.  Anything we can do to inject dollars into the Palauan economy would help to reward these progressive decisions and to support current leadership.

Paradise indeed

Paradise indeed

It’s comforting to see us finally throwing off the anachronistic sharks-are-bad misconception.  We’ve come a long way in that respect.  Movies like Sharkwater are changing the way that we think about sharks by transforming them from monstrous to magnificent. Even the creator of Jaws, Peter Benchley, has done a tremendous amount of work supporting shark conservation efforts and rebuilding the image of these animals in the public eye.

So let’s make use of this progress. Sharks are mysterious, charismatic creatures – why are we tolerating the cruel barbarity of finning?

Stop the slaughter.  Get shark products out of our markets.  Demand more shark sanctuaries and marine protected areas so these creatures can thrive.  If we can do that, well, we may just save them after all.

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