Say thank you to Palau...

Sign the 'thank you' to Palau

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I have never been one for signing petitions--I value my privacy, don't want the spam, and I doubt they have any impact--but I will sign this one. The best way to thank Palau, though, would be to book a two-week vacation there. And that's just the sort of sacrifice I'm willing to make. Now I just have to find some vacation time.

Good idea mate. Let me know when you finally get your time to go and I might join you.

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Would you feel better if they kept the whole shark and ate it instead of just the fin? I doubt it.

I'd feel better if they harvested sustainable amounts of whatever they take. That means leaving slow-reproducing species alone for the most part, and it means not spoiling the environment in the process of harvesting. Shark fishing would not be as attractive economically if they had to waste storage room on the cheap carcasses of the shark, so outlawing finning might slow down the decimation of shark species. But sustainability should be the standard, in my opinion.

I doubt that Palau is governed by rabid environmentalists. They have done the cost/benefit analysis and concluded that the payments that they get from Japanese fishermen do not offset the eventual loss of dive tourists as their shark population dwindles to zero. People do not fly for twenty-four hours to see the cuttlefish or the gobies.