Proposed shark fin legislation in California

The ongoing debate over shark fin soup continues in California with proposed legislation which aims to curtail the import of fins and prevent the brutal practice of “finning”. Currently, it is illegal to bring in sharks without the fins, but a loophole exists which allows for the import of fins from countries such as China and Mexico, where animal protection legislation is lax or non-existent. If passed, California would join Hawaii in the efforts to prevent shark fins from making it into the soup bowl.  The New York Times recently reported on the issue from California, bringing to light many different viewpoints from the Asian community.

I admire many of the opinions expressed by many of the first generation Americans quoted in this article. It is hard to go against family tradition, especially notoriously traditional Asian families. The concerns they express – environmental and ethical – are backed by science and fact. Finning is cruel and wasteful. Finning not only causes the pain of amputation but also condemns the animal to die slowly, either from suffocation or from being defenselessly picked apart by opportunistic scavengers. Ecologically, the removal of the top ocean predator would be devastating in terms of balance.

In contrast, many of the arguments put forth by their elders seem petty if not downright foolish – the notion that we should be free to eat whatever we want, whatever the cost; the idea that tips for waiters would decrease without shark fins for soup; and so on. Pitted against damning evidence that the shark populations is on the brink of disaster, it is hard to find any respect for this viewpoint.

Many groups have used “culture” as reasons for continuing destructive practices – usually in relation to hunting and eating. The whale hunt is another example. Though perhaps less vicious and less wasteful, it ignores the fact that we are still willfully eating species into extinction. We forget that our technological advances and our incredible ability to kill and destroy efficiently has far outstripped that of our long ago ancestors. And for what? A small bowl of soup, gained at the expense of an animal left to die for lack of appendages?

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Updates Dec19-Dec25

I’ve been a bad blogger and have not been writing nearly as much as I should. 😦

This week and a bit has probably been one of my most unproductive since the summer, and for that I’m sorry. I’m a bit burned out I think with much writing, both coding and blogging. Hopefully a few days off at Christmas will recharge my batteries!

News the past week and a bit:

• Shameless self-promotion: My latest blog is up on the Stem Cell Network and recaps the recent annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.  Please check it out!
• Earlier this year, Metropolis records released “Electronic Saviors”, a 4 CD collection of industrial music to benefit cancer research and patients.  On December 4, they presented the Foundation for Cancer Research and Wellness with a check for over $22k.  Angry music does solve problems!
• It received limited coverage, earning only a brief mention in Scientific American, but this past Tuesday, the US Senate finally passed the Shark Conservation Act which bans the practice of taking fins from live sharks.  Shark fins are prized in soups and other delicacies, and unfortunately, many countries which profit from the trade still permit shark finning to occur despite the fragile state of many shark populations.  This is a long overdue step in the right direction.

I’m really going to try to push some posts out in the next few days.  Can’t say much more than that, as I have a crap load of stuff on my to-do list!  Stay tuned…

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Update: Dec5-Dec11

Wow, what a crazy weekend.  I had a lot of fun at ASH 2010 and I’ll put up a post on that soon.  If any readers are contemplating a trip to Orlando, I have to warn you – the water is absolutely disgusting.  At the convention centre, at the hotel… everywhere…  I do not advocate bottled water, but I kid you not, the tap water smelled and tasted like swamp.  I am eternally grateful to live in Vancouver where the water is decent and good food is the norm rather than the exception!!

• The world this week has been fixated on the Wikileaks cable releases and the subsequent back lash from the United States government.  I think as writers, we should all be concerned when governments begin to pressure private companies to take action against a publisher of information, be it Wikileaks or your local newspaper.  Where is the backlash against the person who actually stole the information in the first place?
• Speaking of media – scientists and bloggers  have rallied together to critique and question NASA’s press release and publication on arsenic-based life, and NASA’s subsequent dismissal of the “credibility” of bloggers.
• The recent shark attacks in Egypt are now being attributed to multiple sharks.  While frightening for tourists and  residents, I can’t shake the dark feeling that some people will again use these attacks to justify hunting sharks, when in fact, illegal feeding and irresponsible “tourism” is most likely to blame.

Not a lot of good news, I’m afraid!  On my end, I will be finishing up part 2 of both the biogeography and rodent anesthesia series this week, stay tuned!  I should also have a new blog coming up on the Stem Cell Network in the next week or two.

 

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Sharks in peril throughout the world

This week’s Vancouver Sun featured a series of stories on the precarious situation of sharks. All over the world, the numbers of sharks of all species are declining at an alarming rate. Sharks have been around a long time – they are descendant from an ancient lineage of fish with cartilaginous skeletons. These bad boys of the seas have been around in some form or another since before the time of dinosaurs! But over the last century and a bit, they’ve been mislabeled as killers, ignored by biologists, and now hunted voraciously to make soup.

I made the mistake of reading the comments in the Vancouver Sun article and was soon incensed by the level of ignorance. Many comments suggested that the oceans would be better off without the presence of these “vicious” predators. Yes, sharks are predators. But removing the predator from the food chain is disastrous. Look at the UVic bunny situation – it’s a classic example of what happens when prey animals are allowed to run rampant without a natural predator to keep populations under control.

And while it is true that sharks have always been hunted for food, like many other fisheries, it has progressed to a level that is unsustainable. Humans have become better hunters and the demand for shark products has never been greater. But now, we cannot even make the claim that they are hunted for food. It is the demand for shark fins that fuels a majority of the shark hunt. The fins are so valuable and command so much money in Asian markets that many fisherman will simply cut of the fins and throw the shark back.

Luckily, sharks are starting to get more attention from both the public and academia. More and more people are rejecting the necessity of shark fin soup at Asian weddings and questioning the need to eat something that is endangered.

For more information, please consider “Sharkwater” – a documentary about one filmmaker’s experience with the plight of sharks.

[Photo from reefnews.com via Google Images]

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Update: Oct24-Oct30

So I got some more posts upcoming but had a bit of a busy weekend – I picked up an extra weekend shift and also visited the parents.

1. I made an edit to my Metacam post after discussing it with a much respected colleague.
2. Lots of stuff in the local news about the peril faced by sharks.  I wrote about this issue earlier in the year for a different newsletter and I’m trying to find my original article to post here… stay tuned and stay away from shark fin soup.
3. Check out “Brain Cuttings”, a new eBook by Carl Zimmer – awesome.  Here is a review and interview by Steve Silberman.
4. I’m writing an article about public opinion of stem cells – would love to hear everyone’s thoughts.  What do you think of stem cells?  Leave a comment or message me privately.

Thanks all.

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