Call To Action..."Save our Sharks!"

[SharkDiverMag]

Hello everyone,

Eli here...The Editor of Shark Diver Magazine. This an official call to action. I am asking everyone for help. Its getting really bad out in our Oceans and I really don't think there is much time left before all the great animals in our oceans are fished out forever, unless something is done.

I don't want to just continue to complain about the problem, and I am sure most of you do not either...I would like to help, I would like to see results, I would like to take what I have built through Shark Diver Magazine and use it to spread a positive conservation message. But I need your help...

I am looking for ideas; whether they are action plans, e-mail campaigns, phone calls, petitions, boycotts, pulling votes, picketing...just any idea on how we can actually make a difference. I have a few ideas, but I would really like to hear from you all. Your help and ideas on how we can move forward and get results are most welcome.

Together we can do something to help save the oceans and sharks we have all grown to love and respect.

So I thank you in advance for any help you can give and I look forward to hearing from each and every one of you on this important subject,

cheers,

Eli Mtz
956 782-7969

 

[brycegroark]

Hi Eli - I subscribe to your mag and also the e-chum newsletter. I read it today and would love to help out in any way possible. I own an underwater video business in Hawaii and would like to be involved if and when this idea goes anywhere. Keep us posted and I'll keep checking back to this post as well.

Great idea to get people talking about this.
Much Aloha
Bryce Groark

Hello everyone,

Eli here...The Editor of Shark Diver Magazine. This an official call to action. I am asking everyone for help. Its getting really bad out in our Oceans and I really don't think there is much time left before all the great animals in our oceans are fished out forever, unless something is done.

I don't want to just continue to complain about the problem, and I am sure most of you do not either...I would like to help, I would like to see results, I would like to take what I have built through Shark Diver Magazine and use it to spread a positive conservation message. But I need your help...

I am looking for ideas; whether they are action plans, e-mail campaigns, phone calls, petitions, boycotts, pulling votes, picketing...just any idea on how we can actually make a difference. I have a few ideas, but I would really like to hear from you all. Your help and ideas on how we can move forward and get results are most welcome.

Together we can do something to help save the oceans and sharks we have all grown to love and respect.

So I thank you in advance for any help you can give and I look forward to hearing from each and every one of you on this important subject,

cheers,

Eli Mtz
956 782-7969

 

[pkrupela]

Finally an environmental cause I can really feel passionate about. But not just sharks - all apex predators in the ocean... sharks, tuna, billfish, etc. I don't know that political action on a national scale in the U.S. would really have any effect. I think a grassroots approach with media exposure is the only way to generate popular support, and popular support outside the diving community is the only way to get the politicians in the U.S. and abroad to take notice. Sharks are not the same as cuddly baby harp seals, and all things being equal, it would be tougher to get popular support to save sharks than it was to bring the plight of the harp seals to the attention of the world. Having said that, the U.S. population (and parts of the world) are more in-tune to the effects of ecological disasters, overfishing, etc. today than during the day of the harp seal hunting ban. If you're really serious about this, form a non-profit organization to address the problem and begin to develop a strategic and tactical plan. Then put a group of core volunteers together (I'd be happy to help) and begin to brainstorm. Throw out ideas, classify them, and put together a plan that attacks the problem on multiple fronts. Boycott/picket supermarkets that sell shark steaks, get school kids interested in sharks by volunteering to do slideshows at school, think about photographing and filming shark finners at work, get local TV/newspapers interested and hope that AP or network news picks up the story, get conservation-minded lawmakers interested in picking up the torch, etc. I'll be very curious to see what kind of responses you get to this thread - I'd love to get involved in this as long as it really turns into something tangible, and not just a BBS thread that goes nowhere. Time to start giving back. If you want to contact me offline - my email is pkrupela@earthlink.net

 

[isurus]

these guys have been quite effective in the UK in terms of getting results with major retailers/restaurant chains - perhaps their model may be effective in other countries such as the US?

http://www.bite-back.com/

 

[Mike Veitch]

Well, if everyone pitches together to buy me a new HD camera and housing i can get to work documenting a lot more shark activity and creating more public awareness that way....

ps Thats said in jest people, don't post nasty replies.....

Seriously though, great idea Eli, it is also something i am hugely passionate about and you know i will jump right in with photos and video for anything that comes up.

Mike
still want camera and housing...

 

[SharkDiverMag]

Thanks guys for your posts. Hopefully more will come. An intersting turn of events. I had a few people unsubscribe from my newsletter list after this last E-Chum (more than normal amount). I guess my attack on fishermen and spearfishermen turned some people off. But these things need to be said. I upset the hunters...too bad

Johnathan Bird said it best. He was in Cayman at a restaurant and a few divers were sitting at the table next to him complaining about how bad the diving is there. Then they ordered big plates of grouper and such... Why are people so blind!

cheers,

Eli

 

[keeperofthesharks]

Goodevening,
I subscribe to both the newsletter and the mag and I unfortuantly wish I would help but the problem is, I live in Kansas. Middle of land!! and it drives me nuts!! I have a room dedicated to sharks and love to study them. I would like to know if there is anything I can do to help with this wonderful cause. I will try my best to make a difference. Thanks you for this oppertunity to make a difference.

 

[gangrel441]

Goodevening,
I subscribe to both the newsletter and the mag and I unfortuantly wish I would help but the problem is, I live in Kansas. Middle of land!! and it drives me nuts!! I have a room dedicated to sharks and love to study them. I would like to know if there is anything I can do to help with this wonderful cause. I will try my best to make a difference. Thanks you for this oppertunity to make a difference.

Ditto here!

Eli, I am a subscriber to the mag. I live in Chicago, and do my best to educate people around me on how important sharks are, what dangers are before them, and why we should work to save them. If there is anything I can do as part of a larger effort, please count me in!

 

[SharkDiverMag]

First thank you for subscribing and reading our newsletters. We have already started collecting information to get this project underway. Our first item on the ajenda is to find all the restaurants in the US that serve shark fin soup, shark steaks and swordfish or marlin steaks. Plans are to start an e-mail campaign to the owners. Asking politely if they will stop serving these foods. If it does not work, then we move to phase two; which is phone calls and such, as well as sending stories to their local newspapers to see if they will help. It's a good place to start. We are starting in the US as its home to many of us and hopefully we will make some major progress with our project to include countries abroad. Anyone with prior experience with this sort of thing, please advise us how to properly proceed.

Eli
We are waging a polite war on Finners world wide!

 

[pkrupela]

First thank you for subscribing and reading our newsletters. We have already started collecting information to get this project underway. Our first item on the ajenda is to find all the restaurants in the US that serve shark fin soup, shark steaks and swordfish or marlin steaks. Plans are to start an e-mail campaign to the owners. Asking politely if they will stop serving these foods. If it does not work, then we move to phase two; which is phone calls and such, as well as sending stories to their local newspapers to see if they will help. It's a good place to start. We are starting in the US as its home to many of us and hopefully we will make some major progress with our project to include countries abroad. Anyone with prior experience with this sort of thing, please advise us how to properly proceed.

Eli
We are waging a polite war on Finners world wide!

Just a suggestion - I think banning swordfish and marlin is a good thing, but the swordfishing community is pretty strong and the only place I've seen marlin on a menu is in Hawaii.

Swordfish is a pretty popular menu item and restaurants are going to be more resistant to taking it off the menu. That will upset some diners and will possibly lose business for the restaurants. Shark is more of a novelty item, and restaurants will be more likely to take only one item off their menu than two. There has been a lot of press surrounding swordfish stocks, and some restaurants already have banned Atlantic swordfish in favor of Pacific swordfish, which are less threatened.

This requires a two-pronged approach, and I think you should go after shark on the menu first. You risk asking for too much and losing a lot of restaurants if you go after swordfish too. Just my opinon.

Eli, as I indicated in my previous email to you, I'm happy to get involved and would love to talk more offline.

pkrupela@earthlink.net