<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for Latest victory protects Pacific sea turtles]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by Mark Powell http://www.grist.org/article/gillnetters-get-the-boot/ Wed, 20 Jun 2007 08:55:46 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/gillnetters-get-the-boot/1 Drift gillnets are still legal?

The back story here is that drift gillnets are still legal.  Most people think we banned drift gillnets in the 1990s, following bad publicity.  Drift gillnets up to 2.5 kilometers are still widely used, and lots of other harmful fishing practices are still used.  When will we get serious about fixing problems in our oceans?  

 

]]> Drift gillnets are still legal?

The back story here is that drift gillnets are still legal.  Most people think we banned drift gillnets in the 1990s, following bad publicity.  Drift gillnets up to 2.5 kilometers are still widely used, and lots of other harmful fishing practices are still used.  When will we get serious about fixing problems in our oceans?  

 

]]> Comment #2 by Grevangelical http://www.grist.org/article/gillnetters-get-the-boot/ Wed, 20 Jun 2007 08:58:39 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/gillnetters-get-the-boot/2 Hurrah!

As an ex-gilnetter myself I'm glad that the exemption passes will not be allowed. All environmental reasons aside it would be a source for resentment and further arguments in a dying community. Not to mention that the permits would probably all be snatched up by larger operations and family fishers would still get nothing.

Preserving a wild area for any breeding species is essential to preserving the biodiversity of creation and in spite of the difficulties this creates for fishers it must be done.

]]> Hurrah!

As an ex-gilnetter myself I'm glad that the exemption passes will not be allowed. All environmental reasons aside it would be a source for resentment and further arguments in a dying community. Not to mention that the permits would probably all be snatched up by larger operations and family fishers would still get nothing.

Preserving a wild area for any breeding species is essential to preserving the biodiversity of creation and in spite of the difficulties this creates for fishers it must be done.

]]> Comment #3 by Biodiversivist http://www.grist.org/article/gillnetters-get-the-boot/ Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:28:38 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/gillnetters-get-the-boot/3 Keep the good news coming

Maybe protecting biodiversity will catch on.

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

]]> Keep the good news coming

Maybe protecting biodiversity will catch on.

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

]]> Comment #4 by caniscandida http://www.grist.org/article/gillnetters-get-the-boot/ Thu, 21 Jun 2007 05:06:44 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/gillnetters-get-the-boot/4 good news?

Yes, of course it is good news.  And God forbid that the perfect should be the enemy of the good.

Still, it is interesting to observe that at this stage in the moral evolution of many people, we are very concerned about what harm such fishing gear as gillnets do to cetaceans, pinnipeds and sea turtles, but not nearly so concerned about the targeted species of bony and cartilaginous fishes.

In fact, there is not a single technique used for hunting and killing fish which can possibly be considered humane.

Chickens are our cousins! So are other sensitive animals! Enough is enough! No more factory farms!

]]> good news?

Yes, of course it is good news.  And God forbid that the perfect should be the enemy of the good.

Still, it is interesting to observe that at this stage in the moral evolution of many people, we are very concerned about what harm such fishing gear as gillnets do to cetaceans, pinnipeds and sea turtles, but not nearly so concerned about the targeted species of bony and cartilaginous fishes.

In fact, there is not a single technique used for hunting and killing fish which can possibly be considered humane.

Chickens are our cousins! So are other sensitive animals! Enough is enough! No more factory farms!

]]> Comment #5 by caniscandida http://www.grist.org/article/gillnetters-get-the-boot/ Thu, 21 Jun 2007 20:01:36 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/gillnetters-get-the-boot/5 on a fairly distant note ...

... but not essentially unrelated at all:  Hopefully those Gristmill readers who are interested in biodiversity (and are as frustrated as I, perhaps, that the subject of endangered species does not find a regular forum in Gristmill) have seen the unusually good essay by Verlyn Klinkenborg:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/opinion/19tue4.html?em& ...

His immediate subject is the Audubon Society's caution regarding the steeply declining counts of a number of previously very numerous North American birds.  But he makes observations which deserve to be extended to what we are doing about all species, including marine wildlife off the Pacific coast.

VK suggests that we are fools, not to be alarmed when population statistics for a particular species have dropped from, say, 500,000 to 5,000 in a matter of decades.  "Well, there are still 5,000 of them out there, so we must be doing something right, no?"  No.  We should pay attention to the "missing" 495,000, and should realize, with a sense of extreme urgency, that whatever we did to kill them off, is before long going to kill off the last 5,000.

This point of his is applicable to all endangered species, including leatherback turtles.

Chickens are our cousins! So are other sensitive animals! Enough is enough! No more factory farms!

]]> on a fairly distant note ...

... but not essentially unrelated at all:  Hopefully those Gristmill readers who are interested in biodiversity (and are as frustrated as I, perhaps, that the subject of endangered species does not find a regular forum in Gristmill) have seen the unusually good essay by Verlyn Klinkenborg:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/opinion/19tue4.html?em& ...

His immediate subject is the Audubon Society's caution regarding the steeply declining counts of a number of previously very numerous North American birds.  But he makes observations which deserve to be extended to what we are doing about all species, including marine wildlife off the Pacific coast.

VK suggests that we are fools, not to be alarmed when population statistics for a particular species have dropped from, say, 500,000 to 5,000 in a matter of decades.  "Well, there are still 5,000 of them out there, so we must be doing something right, no?"  No.  We should pay attention to the "missing" 495,000, and should realize, with a sense of extreme urgency, that whatever we did to kill them off, is before long going to kill off the last 5,000.

This point of his is applicable to all endangered species, including leatherback turtles.

Chickens are our cousins! So are other sensitive animals! Enough is enough! No more factory farms!

]]>