ESPN unspeakable show

[Wildcard]

A. Commercial shark fisheries exist, and they are hardly minor. That shark cartilage fad of the 1990's completely denuded certain regions of sharks, and current shark fishing maintains this, even as close to the U.S. as the Bahamas.

And exactly which kind of people bought this stuff? The kind of short sighted narrow minded peole that chain themselves to a frikkin tree!

Back to the original point. Killing a shark without a gun is tough. Without risking life or limb how else are you going to kill them and is that any better?

 

[Ishie]

A. Commercial shark fisheries exist, and they are hardly minor. That shark cartilage fad of the 1990's completely denuded certain regions of sharks, and current shark fishing maintains this, even as close to the U.S. as the Bahamas.

And exactly which kind of people bought this stuff? The kind of short sighted narrow minded peole that chain themselves to a frikkin tree!

Back to the original point. Killing a shark without a gun is tough. Without risking life or limb how else are you going to kill them and is that any better?

I'm not in favor of shark fishing, I never bought into that shark cartilage fad, and though I am concerned with the CA redwood population, I have never chained myself to a tree. I have noticed that denouncing people with forty year old labels ("tree hugger", "hippies", "commies") tends to be an excuse for people who cannot present a strong argument in their favor. Despite the fact that I had no problem with invading Afghanistan, I was called a "tree hugger" for opposing the war in Iraq, despite a relative dearth of trees in that region. Not saying you have no argument or anything... just implying it. If you do have a case, you're weakening it with this tree hugger nonsense.

I wonder... do you think that it was appropriate for measures to be taken that reduced dolphins and sea turtles as bycatch? Would you support sport dolphin fishing? If not, why not? There are a LOT of dolphins in the sea. Just last week on a boat dive, coming back to Santa Barbara, we were in the middle of a pod that seemed to stretch as far as you could see. When people became aware of dolphins as bycatch, the public went nuts. But sharks? Just fish. Plenty of them. So I wanted to get your opinion on the dolphins. Would you hunt them or want to watch others hunt them? I'm striving for consistency here.

Ishie

 

[archman]

Back to the original point. Killing a shark without a gun is tough. Without risking life or limb how else are you going to kill them and is that any better?

The "ESPN method" for shark fishing is perfectly valid, and is used all over the world by recreational fishers. You hook the shark, gaff the shark, and then bring it aboard. With larger animals you tow them behind the boat backwards, to suffocate them. This is one of the safest ways to kill the animal. Gaffs are used for virtually all large-animal fisheries, including south american dolphin ones. It ain't pretty but it works.

It's not easy to kill a shark outright. Tough skins, small brains, strange nervous system... these all contribute. Sharks have a nasty tendency to "come back to life" on the boat/dock and bite people, so assuring their true mortality is a very serious concern. Especially around curious children. Sharks have been known to last for hours aboard a boat, even though they "look" dead.

The argument that fish "feel pain" has been ongoing for decades. Most ichthyologists agree that they generally do not, and if they do, it's a fleeting, short-term thing. For sharks, most everyone agrees that they do NOT feel pain. As an extreme example, disemboweled specimens have been known to attack and eat their own guts.

Applying mammalian ideas of pain and suffering generally don't hold water with lower vertebrates. They're nervous systems aren't advanced enough to register and retain impulses like we do. The public typically is unaware of this, or chooses not to believe it. This is a very real problem for environmental managers, who must filter out objective concerns (fishery reduction, bycatch) from subjective ones (cruelty).

 

[Wildcard]

Sharks are cold blooded eating machines dolphins are capable of upper level thnking (higher than some people here), that would be the big difference. Lots of people world wide eat dog, whale ( grossest stuff I have ever put in my mouth) and many other critters we would never consider. We eat cows and pigs, many consider that to be barbaric and disgusting. Who the hell are you and I to dictate what others eat?

Again, back to the orginal topic. Im all in favor of a quick humane kill but if you can't shoot the shark, draging them is just about the only way to kill em safely.

I'm not in favor of shark fishing, I never bought into that shark cartilage fad, and though I am concerned with the CA redwood population, I have never chained myself to a tree. I have noticed that denouncing people with forty year old labels ("tree hugger", "hippies", "commies") tends to be an excuse for people who cannot present a strong argument in their favor. Despite the fact that I had no problem with invading Afghanistan, I was called a "tree hugger" for opposing the war in Iraq, despite a relative dearth of trees in that region. Not saying you have no argument or anything... just implying it. If you do have a case, you're weakening it with this tree hugger nonsense.

I wonder... do you think that it was appropriate for measures to be taken that reduced dolphins and sea turtles as bycatch? Would you support sport dolphin fishing? If not, why not? There are a LOT of dolphins in the sea. Just last week on a boat dive, coming back to Santa Barbara, we were in the middle of a pod that seemed to stretch as far as you could see. When people became aware of dolphins as bycatch, the public went nuts. But sharks? Just fish. Plenty of them. So I wanted to get your opinion on the dolphins. Would you hunt them or want to watch others hunt them? I'm striving for consistency here.

Ishie

 

[Dot Wethington]

I think put a bunch of these fishing guys out there with "fun noodles" to float with along Catalina Island in CA or off Dangerous Reef in Australia and lets call that a tournament-- who can swim to the boat faster before the men in the grey suits come by. Right???

It would be more entertaining to catch sharks, discuss the type and all the important information about that shark, tag it, and then release it.

I agree that something needs to be done to bring back the pelagic sharks-- get the Japanese and whoever thinks that "fins" are a delicacy and make it known that there are alot better things to eat then sharkfins. I remember when I was a little kid about 8 or 9 at the beach and picking up a baby shark about a foot long and showing people at the beach about it- and getting them not to be afraid of sharks but to respect them and be 'in awe' of them.

They are an important part of the ecosystem. Peter Benchley of "Jaws" fame is still working hard to protect sharks and regrets what happened after his book and the movie rendition came out-- mass hysteria and mass killing of sharks. We are the 'keepers of the kingdom' and need to get our act together and work on education of children and others about wildlife. Testosterone and macho 'hunting' as a sport is just idiotic. Right??

ESPN needs to 'get a grip' on what sporting activities are. I hate watching the deer hunting shows also, -- it is just so lame.

Dot

 

[scottfiji]

Tell ya what partner, when you risk your life cutting loose as many sharks as I have becouse there was no need to kill then, then you can talk to be about being uneducated. I spent five years fishing for a living from california to Alaska and have turned lose literaly thousands of sharks (if you count dog fish) as well as sleeper, thresher mako and white sharks. Ate and sold a few too. So some sportie does something questionable and now the sharks are in decline due to longliners? Just a question for all you tree huggers, have you ever seen a longliner in action? Im guessing that you view the liberal garbage on TV and accept it as fact. It's not.

I'm confused why you are calling people tree-huggers who are concerned about fish conservation. You realize that we are talking about fish, and not trees, right?

 

[Wildcard]

Well now, that was a good reply.

"ESPN needs to 'get a grip' on what sporting activities are. I hate watching the deer hunting shows also, -- it is just so lame."

If you don't like it, then change the channel or better yet get off the couch and do something positive for the world.

 

[justleesa]

Ok everybody...we agree to disagree, time to move on

 

[Nomaster]

A. Commercial shark fisheries exist, and they are hardly minor. That shark cartilage fad of the 1990's completely denuded certain regions of sharks, and current shark fishing maintains this, even as close to the U.S. as the Bahamas.

And exactly which kind of people bought this stuff? The kind of short sighted narrow minded peole that chain themselves to a frikkin tree!

People all through the Asian world think of it as "medicine" for potency. It's almost as though there is a potency cult here, it seems each time I'm introduced to a new food I hear, "It's good for your stamina!" or some such thing.
You might be right about the short lived fad in the US, but that was insignificant compared to the huge focus on varied rare foods here.
Always for "health".

Tom

 

[jkennedy]

I read the whole thread and UNBLIEVABLE!!!!!!!