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How awesome is this guy! Thanks Dazza!!! Is anybody getting married? Tell them!
Shark Love (EP3): Shark-fin friendly photographer
Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 10:15hrs, the long zlong So if you’ve been following, I’ve been blogging about the love for sharks and how and why we should be treating these gnashing saw teeth fishes better in;
Shark Love (EP1): In conversation with Sharkman
Shark Love (EP2): Sharkwater and some shark facts And on how I am keen in affecting change in an industry that, perhaps doesn’t actually play a part in the slaughter of sharks for Shark-fin soup, but may be in the right position to affect some, if only a slight change - a change in seeing Shark Fin dishes off banquet tables. Take local TV celebrities Shaun and Michelle, their heavily publicized wedding dinner had them declaring live on National TV last Monday night, how they took shark-fin off their menu and served a substitute instead I would like to encourage couples and their families to not serve Shark-fin at their dinner banquets. And to do that, I pledge to offer every couple signed up for Actual Day wedding photography with me, who are holding sit-down Chinese x-course banquets, who consciously decide not to serve any form of sharks-fin dish at their wedding, a S$100 credit1. This credit can be used as a redemption for any products such as Canvas Prints, Photobooks or Wedding Books. This isn’t a time-limited offer, it will be an offer I will provide henceforth. I am providing this at a cost to myself, probably not the smartest business or profit margin increasing move, but I am doing this because I care. I care for the sharks that are being poached and sinking to the floor of the ocean with their fins cut off and I am doing so because it matters what goes into the mouths of the people I care about.
Mozambique Loses Millions To Illegal Shark Fishing
May 14, 2009 11:18 AM, Bernama.com
MAPUTO, May 14 (Bernama) -- The Mozambican state has been losing millions of US dollars because of illegal shark fishing by foreign vessels in the country's waters, the Mozambican news agency (AIM) said quoting a report in Wednesday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".
The illegal vessels mostly come from Tanzania and operate in the waters off the coat of Memba and Nacala districts, in the northern province of Nampula. The local maritime administration currently lacks the resources to inspect the coastal waters effectively.
A kilo of shark fins is sold for about US$750 in the international market, but fetches much higher prices in the Asian shops and restaurants where it is regarded as a delicacy.
I really loved this post from Dazza. It is very refreshing to have a Singaporean guy man enough to say he cares (apart from Sharkman of course)! Read the full post of Shark Love (EP2): Sharkwater and some shark facts. Read Shark Love (EP1): In conversation with Sharkman. Shark Love (EP2): Sharkwater and some shark facts
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 09:32hrs, the long zlong
SharkWater is an award-winning documentary produced, written and directed by Rob Stewart. The film debunks many of the fears and misconceptions the media machine has brainwashed us with. And traces the journey that Stewart makes with renegade conservationist Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, on an adventure that exposes the truth behind shark-finning, with the corruption involved for that tiny bowl of soup at our Chinese dinners.
There were moments that disgusted me, moments that made me feel shameful and embarrassed as an ABC (Asian Born Chinese) - a Singaporean company is featured in the film for all the wrong reasons. The MD of the said company is filmed with such arrogance on how vicious sharks are - “See the teeth! Like a saw!… They bite you…pain until die.” - and ignorance of how one can prevent cancer and rheumatism by eating shark’s fin. And it horrified me that we Asians, me in part, am responsible for the slaughter and driving the need for the corruption that is involved, which includes paying off officials in Guatamala (where finning is illegal) by Asian syndicates.
But I also felt a sense of redemption when an Asian couple, whom I can only guess is from South-East Asia from their accent, declared how they would not be serving Shark fin at their wedding dinner.
Now I promised that I had a plan to affect change. When this idea first started, I didn’t realise how much there was to write about shark fin and how embarrassed and disgusted I would feel from learning more. And since this post has gone on to include a lot more than I anticipated at first I will postpone my plan to affect change til the next post.
Good work IBAMA. Too late for the 36 thousand sharks but maybe it will set the poachers back a bit. But as long as there is the demand there will be someone, somewhere, getting the supply, even if it means doing it illegally like these people are. NGO Alliance Looks for Compensation Above R $60 Million for the Illegal Capture of Sharks
Monday, May 11, 2009, Sea Shepherd
Sea Shepherd Brazil, Instituto Environmental Justice (Insitutot Justiça Ambiental), and the South Coast Institute (Instituto Litoral Sul) filed on Thursday, May 7th, a public civil action in the Federal Court of Rio Grande, Brazil. The NGO's mobilization began on June 19th, 2008, when the Environmental Police of the Military Brigade and IBAMA raided the fishing company Dom Matos Comércio de Pescados e Resíduos Ltda, and found 3.3 tons of shark fins. IBAMA is the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment's enforcement agency. The shark fins belonged to species threatened of extinction, including angel sharks. For the amount of fins found, it was estimated that over 36 thousand sharks had been killed.
Illegally obtained shark fins from the 3.3 tons confiscated by IBAMA
Photos Credit: Gerson Pataleao "It is a coherent and important regulation that seeks to avoid the uncontrolled capture of sharks. The regulation was ignored, since only shark fins were found at the premises without any carcass," explains Cristiano Pacheco, executive director for Institute Environmental Justice. "We have enough elements for an exemplary pecuniary condemnation." The shark fin industry has ramifications in almost all the coastal countries of the world, including the Galápagos Islands, which is today perhaps the 'Latin capital' of the shark finning industry. In Brazil there are ramifications from Pará to Rio Grande do Sul.
Wah we got interviewed! Plus this blog post has the nicest screenshot I have ever seen :D Read the whole interview here. Shark Love (EP1): In conversation with Sharkman
Monday, May 11, 2009 at 13:49hrs, the long zlog
As a leisure scuba diver, it has been on my mind for a while now and I feel it is a matter close to me. Especially since, I am in an industry that, perhaps doesn’t actually play a part in the execution, but may be in the right context to affect some, if only a slight, but nonetheless a change. A change in seeing Shark Fin Soup kept off dinner tables.
Q: What called you to advocate for sharks in particular?
I watched Sharkwater, a documentary about how sharks populations are being destroyed worldwide for their fins and by destructive fishing practices such as longlining. This came as a horrible shock for me. I was aware of the issues involved in shark finning but I was not aware of the extent that certain shark populations were affected (some populations have fallen up to 95% over the last 20 years). As a diver, sharks are like the Holy Grail. I dream of going to Malapascua to see thresher sharks or to Costa Rica to see hammerhead sharks. The idea that these amazing creatures have survived 4 major extinctions but they may not survive our lifetime is very distressing. Sharks are a keystone species in the marine ecosystem. This means that they are essential to maintain the balance of how everything works. Removal of sharks can lead to the troppling of the entire marine ecosystem! Even if you didn’t care much for sharks, you would have to give some thought to that. Q: How can the everyday Singaporean help the cause?
Stop eating shark fin! There’s really no simplier way than that. Don’t have shark fin at your wedding. Tell your friends not to have shark fin at their wedding. A friend of mine had top grade birds’ nest at her wedding as the substitute luxury dish and everybody loved it. It’s really just a matter of changing your mindset to look to the future and focus on what REALLY matters. I think when you look at it that way, a bowl of soup is no substitute for a sustainable future for the generations to come.
Come on Peter Garrett, do the right thing! Calls to ban shark fin exports
Posted Mon May 11, 2009 2:08pm AEST, ABC News
A giant shark fin is erected outside the office of Environment Minister Peter Garrett as part of the protest (NSW Conservation Council: NSW Conservation Council)
Conservationists are calling on the Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett to stop shark fin exports from New South Wales. The minister is currently considering whether to renew the state's shark export license. The Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales says shark numbers are declining from over-fishing due to increased demand from Asia, where shark fin soup is a delicacy. It delivered a giant shark fin to Mr Garrett's Sydney office this morning in protest against exports. The Council's director Cate Faehrmann says there has been a large increase in the numbers of sharks targeted simply for their fins. "We've seen a decline worldwide of about 90 percent in shark numbers since the beginning of the industrial age," she said. "This is very unsustainable. We have sharks being targeted in New South Wales waters that are listed as internationally threatened."
11 tonnes of shark fins seized
May 8, 2009, The Straits Times
Police in Spain said on Friday they had seized 11 tonnes of shark fins worth 136,800 euros (S$270,449) destined to be shipped to Hong Kong in China. --PHOTO: REUTERS
The warehouse in Huelva in southwestern Spain where the shark fins, used to make soup in China, were found was not authorised to store or export the product, they said in a statement. The shark fins did not appear to be a protected species, police said. They came from a port in Galicia in northwestern Spain. European Union countries are the main exporters of shark fins to China. The removal of the shark's fins results in their death.
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