Slaughtered Hammerhead left on Jupiter, FL Dock

[Lopez116]

I understand there may have been a beef between the parties, but what did the hammerhead do???

 

[purepursuit]

I understand there may have been a beef between the parties, but what did the hammerhead do???

I'd be willing to bet the hammerhead was going to be taken regardless of this plan or not. They most likely decided to make use of the head instead of throwing it out.

 

[Arubandi07]

I'd be willing to bet the hammerhead was going to be taken regardless of this plan or not. They most likely decided to make use of the head instead of throwing it out.

Might have been a case of DWD, as in 'Deciding while drunk' after a long day's fun ...

 

[danvolker]

When I hear some poor fisherman is struggling to feed his starving family, and we as divers have no business commenting about the shark issue.... I do have to question how the few dollars a 12 foot hammerhead may have represented to a fisherman's family--compares to the economic value of having the Shark swimming around for the next ten years--both for the Sport Fish boats to hook occasionally( and then release....worth huge money to them!), and for Dive tourism bringing 100,000 divers to palm Beach per year....and the economic impact of that..... A few measly dollars compared to over a million, per big shark like this....

And then there is the clear danger shark meat represents to anyone eating it, even the Chinese ( who should know better)....Aside from the high mercury level, researchers also know that the Shark fins contain a neurological toxin that will cause Alzheimer's disease....but again, the question of whether the brains of these Chinese consumers are worth considering any attempt to protect--I would guess they are worth much less than each shark.

 

[100days-a-year]

Cause Alzheimers?Not,just that BMAA is present in patients and sharks no causation is documented.Mercury in seafood is a chimera that isn't quantifiable reliably as species diets change as well as the level in local forage.Not that it's good to eat seafood linked to mercury content,it's just not reliably predictable as too the level present.PUBMED has a wealth of info on the relative risks on all dietary items but please do look at the abstract to see who the researchers are,where they study and Whom is picking up the bill.It is easy to get two equally credible scientists to find diametrically opposing conclusions just by giving them a grant from two organizations with differing views.And a million dollars for a shark?Hyperbole,surely.

 

[danvolker]

Cause Alzheimers?Not,just that BMAA is present in patients and sharks no causation is documented.Mercury in seafood is a chimera that isn't quantifiable reliably as species diets change as well as the level in local forage.Not that it's good to eat seafood linked to mercury content,it's just not reliably predictable as too the level present.PUBMED has a wealth of info on the relative risks on all dietary items but please do look at the abstract to see who the researchers are,where they study and Whom is picking up the bill.It is easy to get two equally credible scientists to find diametrically opposing conclusions just by giving them a grant from two organizations with differing views.And a million dollars for a shark?Hyperbole,surely.

Like I said, I am fine with the shark fin eaters filling their brains with as much mercury as possible. Smart people don't wait for the FDA and the Financial bias of the food industry to protect them.....if the FDA was remotely interested in protecting the public health ) over the profits of the various corporate elements making up the Food industry---sugar would be dealt with the way tobacco is...and remember how long it took "science" or corporate, paid for science, to admit that cigarettes are bad for your health.... In the 50's and 60's, there was still major dis-information being pushed out by "paid science" that CLEARLY SHOWED NO CORRELATION between cigarettes and lung cancer or asthma.

I used to eat tuna sandwiches all the time. Now I don't, due to mercury levels in tuna.

As to the value estimate.....I did exagerate....a little googling returned this:

The Bahamas is one of the top destinations to snorkel and/or dive with sharks, claiming the name “Shark Diving Capital of the World.”1 Sharks rank high on the majority of scuba divers’ must-see lists, and many divers would be willing to pay more to see a shark in the wild.2
With 92 percent of The Bahamas Dive Association members offering some form of shark dive activity, sharks have become the main attraction in The Bahamas.3 Over the past 20 years, shark related tourism has contributed more than US$800 million dollars to the Bahamian economy.4 A single reef shark is estimated to be worth US$250,000 over its lifetime for tourism if kept alive on the reef. If it is fished, the same shark generates a one-time value of US$50-60.5 Sharks are clearly worth more alive than dead, demonstrating the need to protect this valuable resource.

On the other hand, I am pretty sure the Sport Fishing industry in the Bahamas is not nearly as large as it is off the SE coast of Florida. Some huge money is made by our Sport Fishing Fleets, with a very affluent clientele .... a clientele that will pay big money for the thrill of hooking a 12 foot monster and getting some photos of the monster for their friends--the sport fish guys are careful not to injure the sharks, so they can do this again and again....this is an income stream that could easily push the $250,000 to double or triple....Just look at how much more money the Sport Fish industry makes in South Florida than the Dive industry makes..... ...ie., What is the difference between a Dive Instructor and a Pizza? Answer.... the Pizza can feed a family......

Have you looked at the value of some of the slick Sportfish boats, and compared this investment/return to the value of a typical $100,000 to $200,000 diveboat? Relatively speaking the diveboats are mopeds, the Sport Fish boats are like Octopussy in a James Bond movie..... ( Octopussy is often in Palm Beach, by the way


And another source for shark tourism is here https://www.sharksavers.org/en/education/the-value-of-sharks/sharks-and-ecotourism/

---------- Post added April 21st, 2013 at 06:03 PM ----------

And the "Why the Chinese shark fin eaters are on their way to mental incompetency" ( I had a better title, but the SB Censors would have killed it

Shark Fins Are Loaded With a Neurotoxin, Study Finds - NYTimes.com

 

[100days-a-year]

Multiply the worth at $25 to 60 per pound for fins and a buck to $6 per pound for meat wholesale,of course it retails higher.Jaws are usually cleaned and sold..I don't eat it or fish them but I do know the industry.

The idea that you can put a value on a single member of a pelagic species for eco tourism is ridiculous.Suffice it to say it's worth more alive than dead but any figure that starts getting that high is not going to impress any thinking person,it will be dismissed as I said as hyperbole and often the whole argument is tainted.Quoting a group called "sharksavers" isn't going anywhere either.the very name implies there might be a preducial spin.
I'd focus on whether the fish was legally taken and if in fact there was any law broken (other than littering) rather than portraying this the last shark in the ocean killed by a crazed and drug addled fisherman for a pittance rather than it being used by Robert Ballard to save humanity via an inspiring story of it's majestic life.
If there was a violation,in the bigger scheme of things with all inhumanity to man I just don't get that worked up when someone pulls what to me seems like a juvenile stunt.I'd be happier to see people get worked up against child abuse,drunk driving and collateral damage in the wars we are currently prosecuting.If you're really gonna step up to save animals,lets start with simians and cetaceans after we get people safe and work our way towards a kinder people and that World will be a place where this doesn't happen.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

What gets me about this is how sick of a human being it takes to do something like that. I'd be worried about my kids anywhere in the vicinity of such a sick basturd. That's someone who has no regard for anyone. What if a group of kids had come in and seen that? And if alcohol led to that, I'd say the guy has a drinking problem and asking the cops to keep an eye on him anytime he's behind the wheel would be doing a public service.

 

[100days-a-year]

Funny thing you mentioned Octopussy in your edit.I have had family paint that boat.small world.

I'm not a big fan of catch and release for larger species.Do a google on ocearch or any other large animal research and see what the release mortality is.Smaller fish don't have a huge mass of organs and are subdued sooner.The fatigue poisons build up in larger fish as well as there is the predation issue.Deeper caught demersal fish have the swim bladder to consider as well.
Large pelagics should either be eaten or viewed and to hell with the money.The idea of killing thousand pound animals so Joe from Idaho can have vid of his release doesn't jive with my view of stewardship.Unless I see evidence of really low release mortality I don't fish a species.If I start catching them I move and note the location and time of year.

 

[danvolker]

Funny thing you mentioned Octopussy in your edit.I have had family paint that boat.small world.

I'm not a big fan of catch and release for larger species.Do a google on ocearch or any other large animal research and see what the release mortality is.Smaller fish don't have a huge mass of organs and are subdued sooner.The fatigue poisons build up in larger fish as well as there is the predation issue.Deeper caught demersal fish have the swim bladder to consider as well.
Large pelagics should either be eaten or viewed and to hell with the money.The idea of killing thousand pound animals so Joe from Idaho can have vid of his release doesn't jive with my view of stewardship.Unless I see evidence of really low release mortality I don't fish a species.If I start catching them I move and note the location and time of year.

Some friends of mine with a Cranchi Yacht have met and run along with Octopussy ( though not nearly as fast, so not for long ....

I would be very interested to hear more of your take on the mortality issue for the sharks....I had always heard from the Shark people I know that the Sport Fish mortality was low....
A quick search turned up this article http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/PFRP/nov09mtg/musyl.pdf which indicates the sharks do pretty well if the fisherman desire to keep the shark from dying.....but perhaps there are other articles or personal experience you would share, that would help better define the issue ?

So that you get my direction here, I see that you are aligned with the commercial fishing mindset, and I think it is awesome that you have been willing to come to Scubaboard, and give us the opportunnity to see things from your perspective.... Without understanding both sides well, each side can stay so far from connecting, that no agreement could ever be possible.