Somewhere off the coast of Australia, a boat filled to the gills with illegally obtained shark fins was boarded in a manner reminiscent of the good old days when pirate ships sailed the high seas. Straining the limits of the power of positive thinking, the crew used machetes and anti-boarding poles (burning ones at that) in an attempt to ward off machine gun toting enforcement officers. Life is complicated. Deep poverty in Indonesia, combined with China's growing economy, has created demand for shark-fin soup, causing an ecological disaster.Meanwhile, at about the same time, a gigantic (15 feet long, 1.75 ton) great white shark was caught off the coast of New Zealand. The happy fisherman is hoping to sell the fins and jaw. But who am I to talk? We had baked sole for dinner last night. There are way too many of us to hunt for our protein on land. Maybe its time we stopped hunting for it in the oceans and started eating farm raised catfish instead.
Arrr... man eating (too many) sharks
Shark-fin soup, anyone? 4
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Posted 11:03 PM on 25 Oct 2005
by Biodiversivist -
Posted in
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My real name is Russ Finley. I live in Seattle, married with children. Suffice it to say that although I am trained and educated as an engineer, my passion is nature. I very much want my grandchildren to live on a planet where lions, tigers, and bears have not joined the long and growing list of creatures that used to be. In an attempt to minimize the workload on Grist editors responsible for turning my submissions into intelligible articles, I will also be posting on a seperate blog called Biodiversivist, which will contain articles in addition to those submitted to Grist.
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odograph Posted 12:29 am
26 Oct 2005
hmm. I suppose we could just engineer the fishermen too ...
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Biodiversivist Posted 12:08 am
27 Oct 2005
In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Help acquire and protect ecological hotspots, give to a conservation organization: http://www.saveourbiodiversity.com
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jbosank Posted 12:26 am
27 Oct 2005
Here's a good resource for navigating your way through your seafood choices.
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Biodiversivist Posted 2:21 am
27 Oct 2005
In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Help acquire and protect ecological hotspots, give to a conservation organization: http://www.saveourbiodiversity.com
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