fathomTAIWAN

Do you believe there is a shortage of sharks in the sea.  What about Blue fin tuna?  Is there is shortage of tuna?  Is it cruel to boil a lobster alive?  Who stands to make a profit from the shark fin soup and associated cruelty story?  The truth would be – nobody knows how many sharks are in the ocean.

Deep sea professional fishermen complain and say they are seeing far more sharks than similar sized fish.

Has in lack of large fishes tipped in favor of the shark now being more plentiful?

Many countries require whole sharks to be landed before any fins are removed.

The live shark minus fins news story has been stopped in its tracks – but what next to generate stories and interest?

The cruelty of boiling prawns and lobsters alive is a good one – but who would bother listening?

Maybe land animals for food could be given more attention?

Imitation crab was probably once called shark

Opposition to shark protection suggested plan.
Many of the arguments used by China, Japan, Russia and several North African countries to oppose the measure were expected to be recycled by delegates later this week when proposals to tightening regulations on the shark trade are considered.

China and Russia argued that shark populations aren’t suffering. Japan insisted that current measures in place are more than adequate. Developing countries like Libya and Morocco complained that any effort to protect sharks would damage the economies of poor fishing nations and burden them with expensive enforcement requirements.

The Chinese delegation said there was no scientific evidence that the shark’s survival is threatened and CITES was not the right forum to handle the issue. The Chinese would prefer to leave regulation to existing tools like the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and regional bodies which conservationists argue have failed to crackdown on illegal fishing and even uphold their own modest quotas. (Courtesy:  Associated Press)