Ecuadorean President Correa revokes shark fin sale ban

[jedah]

Hey guys,

Looks like things are moving backwards in Ecuador....2 weeks ago, president Correa revoked the 2004 ban on the sale of shark fins from Ecuador, as long as fishermen can prove that the shark by caught "accidentally" and not "intentionally" - how are they going to work that one out?

As you can image, this is the tipping point for shark populations in Ecuador in general, and the Galapagos Islands in particular. While I've only been there once, I can tell you that 18 months ago shark were by no means "abundant" and people say they used to be 5-10 years ago. It took us 10 days to see 5 Galapagos sharks, and we only saw a significant number of hammerheads at Wolf and Darwin. Perhaps most troubling, there were shark carcasses at Cousin's Rock - well within the confines of the marine reserve.

Mark Harding is collecting signatures for a trip he'll make to Ecuador this week, where he's arranged a meeting with president Correa and other environmentalists to try to get him to undo this presidential decree.

You can find the petition, and add your name here:

http://www.eyemocean.com/petition.htm

He'll be meeting with President Correa on Friday, so please sign your name before then!

J.

 

[Crowley]

time for the revolution...

Shark finning is a despicable practice, whether the shark is caught "accidentally" or on purpose. Happy to sign your petition.

Cheers

C.

 

[NightRaven77]

ATTENTION MODERATOR!!

PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT THIS PREVIOUS POST IS SHOWN IN EVERY SECTION OF THE SCUBABOARD....

I was just down there in Ecuador this past week and spoke with alot of locals about the issue of shark finning....their hopes is that we can help them make a big deal about this and get support from other countries as well....

This past week the local fishermens reeled in a harvest of a 2 ton load of shark fins in Ecuador....!!!

This issue is not going way and is going to get worse.....and we will need the divers of this board to get the word out....

Please !

Lets make our opinion known...

Thanks for your time

NightRaven77

 

[arfy]

You have my support for sure, have signed the petition.

 

[RAD Diver]

I signed & just for anyones info I would NEVER visit or spend my $$$ on or in a country with this type of policy.

 

[bshowerman]

I signed & just for anyones info I would NEVER visit or spend my $$$ on or in a country with this type of policy.

I signed you have my full support. This reply has brought up another question. Maybe I'm "out of the loop" but is there a list of anywhere on the internet of countries that allow shark finning in their waters? I agree with probably all divers and many non-divers that shark finning should be banned and would not travel to a country that allows it but I don't know which countries these are. Any help?

Brent

 

[back2deepblue]

Thanks for alerting us of this alarming situation. I definitely signed the petition (I'm not sure if to late). Will make sure to pass this to everybody I know.
Helen