Friday, July 29, 2011

Bravo Bravo Bravo!

Image © 2011, John Bruno
A total of 379 sharks were onboard the Fer Mary I.
There were 303 bigeye thresher sharks (Alopias superciliosus, IUCN status: vulnerable), 42 silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis, IUCN status: near threatened), 24 blue sharks (Prionace glauca, IUCN status: near threatened), 5 smooth hammerhead sharks (Sphyma zygaena, IUNC status: vulnerable), 2 tiger sharks (Galeocerdo culvier, IUCN status: near threatened), 1 Galapagos shark (Carcharhinus galapagensis, IUCN status: near threatened), 1 short fin mako shark (Isurus oxyrhinchus, IUCN status: vulnerable), and 1 unidentified shark (missing head, tail, fins and part of body).


You and I get that fishing a low fecundity, slow growth, slow to reproductive maturity, supply limited species is a formula for ecological and economic ruin.

Scientists measure and sample illegally harvested sharks as they are returned to the sea from John Bruno on Vimeo.

But what are the options?
What will fill the revenue void for fishers if all shark finning was banned globally tomorrow? What sustainable fisheries trainings are being offered? And if no sustainable fishing alternatives are available, what alternative livelihoods are nations prepared to present? However stomach-churning the reality, waste, and short-sightedness of shark finning may be, I refuse to believe that all fishers engaged in the process are mindless savages bent on pursuing personal fortune. Perhaps some of them know what they are engaged in is an utterly unsustainable enterprise. but again, what does their option and opportunity landscape look like?

This post is as good as it gets.
Please read it and above all, please engage in some reflection.

I'm proud to know you Rick MacPherson!

3 comments:

Up Welng said...

Vinaka for the support, Mike!

natkirsh said...

I'm shoсked...

Anonymous said...

One makes his own damn opportunities.